The Republican party had their presidential debate yesterday, and it had some of the lowest ratings in this election campaign so far. According to New York Daily News the debate only pulled in 13.5 million views – this compared to 25 million and 23 million for the first two GOP debates. That’s almost half of the viewership! But who is to blame?
As we all know, yesterday was a pretty hot day for video game releases. Coming to our TV screens and PC monitors yesterday were big name titles like Rise of the Tomb Raider, Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void, and the crowd favorite Fallout 4 all simultaneously released on November 10th.
While it may seem unlikely that 10 million gamers decided not to watch the GOP debate, we have to remember that video game players – particularly the age of majority ones – are pretty active in politics. In fact, we’re typically the first ones to cry out injustices when they’re carried out.
So maybe – just maybe – the American political debate that was held on the same day Fallout 4 was released might have had a little bit of sway in that number. I mean, the game’s pretty darn great despite its glitches, and it’s not that hard to speculate that more than a few gamers have been glued to their screens since release. I know I have.
Of course, this isn’t the only possible explanation; maybe Americans are just running out of steam already in this election cycle.
What do you guys think? Have you been following the presidential campaigns? Did Fallout 4, Legacy of the Void, or Tomb Raider stop you from watching this debate? Do you have a completely different theory for why there were less viewers? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!
