Open a game lobby in the second half of October, and you notice the change before you read a single title. The summer fruit is gone. Something with fangs has moved into the front row.
Most of us file that under seasonal decoration. Last year, Blask, a data firm that tracks where games sit on lobby pages, decided to measure it. It followed 25,796 titles across 15 countries from September into October and recorded how far each one moved up or down the page.
The typical Halloween title improved its position by about 45%. In several European countries, the jump came close to 70%. By late October, more than a third of the top twenty spots were Halloween-themed at any given moment, on average across every country tracked.
The pumpkins did well. The werewolves did even better. Games tagged “Spooky” and “Werewolf” improved their visibility by 80% to 90%, often climbing from deep in the lobby to the top rows within days.
That gap probably comes down to numbers. Blask counted 1,134 games tagged Halloween, against 191 for the next theme on the list. With that many pumpkins on the shelf, the smaller themes have more room to move.
What this looks like in your traffic
For SEO sites, the shift starts in September, which is roughly when Google needs to have seen your Halloween pages. A round-up written on 25 October is a lovely piece of writing for next year.
For paid search, social, and app traffic, the useful habit is a creative refresh that moves in step with the lobby. Blask saw some regions refresh their lobbies late in the month, so the second half of October still counts.
Sports and news properties already run on this rhythm around big fixtures. October simply adds a second season on top.
If you write content, the werewolf numbers deserve a second look. The pumpkin round-up gets written every year. The werewolf one has a lot more space around it.
October is the closest thing affiliates have to a bonus stage. Bro Partners is ready for it, whether your traffic arrives from a blog, a search ad, an app, or anything else. 🎃
