On the evening of September 14th, two gaming exhibitions took place one after the other — Nintendo Direct and Sony's State of Play. The companies showcased their upcoming releases, remasters, and shared fresh trailers and gameplay footage. Collectively, their broadcasts lasted for about 2.5 hours and attracted millions of viewers.
It's worth noting that Nintendo and Sony didn't engage in any significant promotional campaigns leading up to their presentations. For many fans, these showcases came as a pleasant surprise, making it all the more interesting to compare the viewership metrics of these events.
Nintendo delighted gamers with the announcement of remasters of three parts of Tomb Raider and showcased trailers for Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, Super Mario RPG Remake, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and other projects. They also unveiled SaGa Emerald Beyond, Another Code: Recollection, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and other titles set to release in 2023 and 2024. As for Sony, the most discussed topic during State of Play was Marvel's Spider-Man 2, specifically the gameplay footage from the streets of New York. They also didn't overlook DLC for the Resident Evil 4 remake and a trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Viewer statistics for the presentations
Nintendo Direct and State of Play Viewership Comparison
Nintendo Direct accumulated over 1.8M Hours Watched, nearly 1.1M Average Viewers and 2.2M Peak Viewers. In contrast, Sony's State of Play had a more modest audience reach with 718K Hours Watched, 784K Average Viewers during the broadcast, and just over a million viewers at its peak.
Top 5 Nintendo Direct and State of Play events by Peak Viewers
Nintendo Direct from September 14th ranked only sixth among the company's presentations in terms of peak online viewers. In February and June 2023, the company managed to gather more viewers. When it comes to the most popular presentation, Nintendo Direct E3 2021 still holds the lead with 3.8M Peak Viewers. State of Play on September 14th ranked third among Sony's other presentations, falling behind last year's June and September events. So far, the best result for State of Play exhibitions is 1.4M Peak Viewers.
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