23 October 2008 | Author: Andrew Girdwood Head of Strategy

Controversial xbox game Fable 2 sends Google searches soaring

The 21st of October release of hugely anticipated Fable 2, sequel to Peter Molyneux's Fable, triggered a rash of unusual queries on the search engine.





















Fable 2 allows players to mature and develop their hero. Not only do actions taken in the game determine whether the hero becomes rich or poor, cruel or kind but whether the character becomes a villain rather than a hero.

The game concentrates on building an immersive experience. Computer controlled characters react to the player in accordance with the actions the player has been taking. As highlighted by Richard Mitchell at Xbox360Fanboy players can decide whether to play a male or female hero. Female heroes can get pregnant in the game and give birth. In fact, in Fable 2 characters can have sex.

This quirk of the game triggered the initial hot trend peaks in Google. The search engine offers a hot trend report which illustrates the most popular 100 searches yesterday included a number of Fable 2 queries. Gamers searched Google for [Fable 2 sex] and [How to have sex in Fable].

By October the 23rd Fable 2 had 4 keyphrases ranking in Google's hottest trends. Players added [Fable 2 demon doors] and [Fable 2 temple of light] to the most popular searches as they turned to the internet for help with the game's challenges.






















Google's trend analysis reveals that Australian gamers are the most likely to turn to the search engine in order to discover the game's lascivious secrets, followed next by Canadians, Americans and then British.

Controversy often helps games sell. The most recent edition of Grand Theft Auto pushed xbox 360 sale figures up by 54% and became the UK's best selling game. Another roleplaying game, Mass Effect, made the headlines after Fox News and author Cooper Lawrence highlighted some of the mature content held within the game.

Search surges, however, can present issues to search engine optimisation and marketing. Game retailers bid on game titles in order to associated pay-per-click adverts with shoppers looking for a copy. Google's PPC system combines bid amount with advert quality to determine how highly the advert ranks and key element of quality is the clickthrough ratio (or CTR). The current wave of searches on Fable 2 from players who already have the game can significantly reduce the CTR.

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