Top 10 Most Addictive Video Games of 2026 Revealed by New Study — No. 10 Is the Biggest Surprise

If a random person off the street or even online is asked, “What is the most popular video game?” the common answers will be Grand Theft Auto, Fortnite, or Mario. While those people would be partially right, there are some surprisingly dedicated fan bases, according to new data.

A new study from a live-streaming platform, Zero1, has been released. The study examined more than 30 popular video game titles to find which video games have the most obsessed fandoms.

For the research, the data collected includes: monthly search demand, estimated daily active players, and how long players spent in the game each day. The report also looked at Twitch viewership and total community following across Twitch, YouTube, Reddit, and Discord. These figures were combined into a final Fan Obsession Score.

Finally, this is one month of data, from July 2026.

10. ‘Final Fantasy 14’

In what may be the biggest surprise on this list, Final Fantasy 14 has the 10th most obsessed fandom, according to the data, with 3.1 million monthly search demands and more than three million daily users, which is, on average, more than its direct MMO competitor, World of Warcraft.

Final Fantasy 14 has seen its fair share of criticism in recent years, mostly aimed at the quality of the narrative in the Dawntrail expansion, the rewards structure, and the homogenization of combat jobs.

Part of the recent high interest is likely due to the recent Fan Fest convention in Berlin and the upcoming release of the new expansion, Evercold, in January 2027, but even 12 years later, FF14 has a very dedicated fan base.

9. ‘Brawl Stars’

Brawl Stars is a hero shooter mobile game that has gained quite a bit of traction in the space, more so than most hero shooters that try to gain the audience of the two dominating hero shooters, Overwatch and Marvel Rivals.

The game currently gets more than 15 million monthly searches and more than 46 million daily users.

8. ‘Genshin Impact’

Genshin Impact, the game that popularized gatcha games in the West, is still going strong, with more than 5.7 million monthly searches and 3.6 million daily players.

Through its microtransactions, this game has made more than $6.3 billion in revenue since its initial release.

7. ‘Rust’

A game that has turned over a new leaf since its lukewarm release in 2018, Rust has quickly climbed to being the survival game for players.

Rust is seeing more than 1.5 million monthly searches, as well as 3.7 million daily players.

6. ‘Grand Theft Auto 5’

Grand Theft Auto 5 being here should not be a surprise at all. The long-awaited GTA 6 is releasing in just a few short months, and GTA Online has had a dedicated fan base since 2013.

GTA 5 is currently, on average, seeing more than 48.9 million monthly searches, as well as 95,000 daily players. The data seems to suggest that some fans are going back to the game before GTA 6 releases in November.

5. ‘World of Warcraft’

The overall Fan Obsession score is higher for World of Warcraft than for Final Fantasy 14, with more than 7.7 million monthly searches but fewer daily players, around 1.6 million on average.

The current player count may be correlated to the recent release of the Midnight expansion back in March. But as one of the longest-running and most popular MMOs ever made, World of Warcraft is still casting a spell on its fandom.

4. ‘Fortnite’

As the game that popularized Battle Royale titles and led the runway for a lot of online engagement throughout the rise of Twitch, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Fortnite is still a very popular title.

Fortnite is seeing around 18.4 million monthly searches, as well as having a player base of around 30 million people a day.

3. ‘Minecraft’

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, according to most data collections, selling more than 350 million units. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that it is still seeing a ton of play.

Minecraft is seeing more than 95 million monthly searches, as well as around 13 million daily players.

2. ‘League of Legends’

League of Legends has one of the biggest eSports scenes in the world, and its high execution and complex mechanics make it a game worth talking about.

League of Legends is seeing around 18.5 million monthly searches and has an average daily player count of 3.6 million players.

1. ‘Roblox’

In no surprise whatsoever, the game with the most obsessed fans is none other than Roblox, and it’s not particularly close.

Roblox is seeing, on average, 332.5 million monthly searches and 15 million daily players.

Commenting on the data findings, the team behind the research at Zero1 had this to say: “There’s a concept in gaming called ‘persistence,’ the idea that the world keeps existing even when you log off. Your builds are still there. Your guild is still running raids. Your friends are still talking on the server. It’s a big reason why games like Roblox, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft create such obsessive fandoms.”

The statement continues, reading, “And speaking of friends, researchers tracking MMO communities found that social connection (not gameplay mechanics) was the single strongest predictor of how long someone keeps playing a game. A large-scale study even found that 75 percent had made genuine friends through gaming, and 43 percent eventually met those people in real life.”

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Jul 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.