In recent years, the growth of technology has allowed game developers to envision more complicated details within their created worlds. This has given them the opportunity to be able to copy real-life locations and implement them into the gaming universe.
Exploring this idea, FindMyCasino.com have found the most famous locations recreated in video games and collected the amount of Instagram hashtags each had generated to reveal the most photographed ones.
Top 15 Real-Life Locations in Video Games
|
Rank |
Location |
Country/City |
Video Game |
Instagram hashtags |
|
1 |
Brooklyn Bridge |
New York, USA |
GTA IV |
3,654,314 |
|
2 |
The Colosseum |
Rome, Italy |
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood |
1,873,369 |
|
3 |
The Space Needle |
Seattle, USA |
Infamous – Second Son |
1,090,614 |
|
4 |
Santa Monica Pier |
Los Angeles, USA |
GTA V |
1,050,165 |
|
5 |
Hagia Sophia |
Turkey |
Assassin’s Creed Revelations |
535,531 |
|
6 |
Lincoln Memorial |
Washington DC, USA |
Fallout 3 |
466,661 |
|
7 |
Topkapi Palace |
Istanbul, Turkey |
Uncharted 2 Among Thieves |
197,340 |
|
8 |
Paramount Studios |
California, USA |
Overwatch |
70,696 |
|
9 |
The shores of Phang Nga Bay |
Thailand |
Tomb Raider Underworld |
66,572 |
|
10 |
Il Duomo cathedral |
Milan, Italy |
Dark souls |
56,367 |
|
11 |
Bank of China |
Hong Kong, China |
Sleeping Dogs |
21,027 |
|
12 |
The Manchester Cathedral |
Manchester, England |
Resistance: Fall of man |
19,959 |
|
13 |
Los Angeles Theater |
Los Angeles, USA |
LA Noire |
17,462 |
|
14 |
San Francisco Bridge |
San Francisco, USA |
Watch Dogs 2 |
13,765 |
|
15 |
The Carfax Tower |
Oxford, England |
Gray Matter |
3,231 |
Ranking in first place is the Brooklyn Bridge with a staggering 3.6 million Instagram hashtags – which is portrayed in the 4th installment of the Grand Theft Auto series. The GTA IV map is based on four famous locations: Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan, where multiple well-known landmarks are recreated to help portray the feeling of legitimacy within the game. The game’s popularity was pivotal towards aiding the franchise, which has reportedly generated over 10 billion dollars.
In second place with 1.8 million Instagram hashtags is Rome’s Colosseum, which was recreated in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood where it sold over 6.5 million copies in its first year. The Colosseum also featured in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Origins. However, the near 2,000 year old structure is represented much differently to how we see it today, as in the games it is shown as being in its complete form, as opposed to ruins.
Third place is The Space Needle in Seattle which has been created within the world of Infamous – Second Son. The space-age themed tower has accumulated 1,090,614 Instagram hashtags.
A spokesperson for FindMyCasino has commented:
“Some of the most successful video games of recent times have featured real-life locations. A great example of this is Rockstar’s portrayal of Los Angeles in Grand Theft Auto V, where developers chose to replicate popular tourist destinations. In doing this, games are bridging the gap between reality and virtual reality, allowing fans to visit places they have spent hours exploring from behind their screens. This has also followed the same direction that film has, by including accessible locations into scenes that allow people to relive the emotion they experienced whilst watching.”
