Among Us & Minecraft Are The Most Popular App Store Games Of 2020
Among Us and Minecraft take home some of the top prizes in Apple's App Store Best of 2020 which highlighted games that helped us get through 2020.
Winners of Apple’s App Store Best of 2020 were announced today with Among Us and Minecraft taking first place in key categories. Both games have been around for some time - Minecraft originally released on mobile platforms nearly 10 years ago and Among Us in 2018 - but the two games remain popular today. Among Us has been especially notable this year as its popularity unexpectedly skyrocketed years after its launch, capturing the imagination of many fans.
Another big winner in Apple’s awards was Genshin Impact, which took home the top prize for Game of the Year for iPhones devices. The free-to-play game managed to capture many with its Breath of the Wild feel despite fears that the game’s gacha mechanics would deter players. Genshin Impact is far from struggling; in fact, according to one report, the game is tantalizingly close to an amazing financial milestone. From the game’s release in September to the end of November the game brought in nearly $400 million dollars on mobile platforms alone.
Among Us and Minecraft join Genshin Impact in Apple’s winner circle winning the categories for Top Free iPhone Games and Top Paid iPhone Games, respectively. This year’s annual awards held by the tech giant celebrated apps which brought the world together and that gave people the ability to navigate the world during a global pandemic. Apple Fellow Phil Schiller pointed to this in a press release, stating that mobile apps were particularly impactful in 2020 and that games in these winning categories “delivered a great escape.” Highlighting this, Among Us is joined in the Top Free iPhone Games category by apps like Brain Out and Minecraft also shares the Top Paid iPhone Games with trivia and education-based titles.
Gamers are going to be seeing a lot more awards as the end of the year gets closer, with many looking forward to one of the industry’s biggest award shows next week. The Game Awards 2020 is just around the corner and already has some interesting news. The creator of the awards, Geoff Keighley announced on twitter yesterday that one of the night’s presenters will be Tom Holland, who is set to play a young Nathan Drake in an upcoming Uncharted film. As for exciting game news, there have also been recent hints that Mediatonic, the indie team behind Fall Guys, may have something big to share during the ceremony.
Games like Among Us and Minecraft have been extremely important this year with so many people impacted by COVID-19. It is wonderful to see games getting recognition for that and the awards that dominate the end of the gaming year also give players something fun to focus on.