By Sean Mueck
If you have kept up with internet culture in some form over the past couple of years, it’s a safe bet you have heard of Geoguessr in some shape or form. Whether you’re scrolling short form content, reading online messaging boards and threads, or browsing Youtube, the Google Maps guessing game has remarkably risen to stardom and has left its mark on gaming culture.
Despite Geoguessr’s large competitive and content scene, the game can be traced back to humble roots in the early 2010’s. First developed by Swedish IT consultant Anton Wallén in 2013, the game first stood as a script which would randomly drop the user anywhere in the world using Google Street View. The game was then quickly updated to contain the multiplayer guessing elements which have made it so addicting. The full release of Geoguessr first appeared on Google Chrome Experiments on May 10, 2013.
The game went viral when it first came out, then reached a plateau and leveled off in popularity. The game would then spend its time out of the spotlight for about 6 years before the Covid 19 pandemic would alter our lives forever. The pandemic shone a brand new light to the game. Much of Geoguessr’s popularity during the time can be traced back to Twitch streamers who live stream themselves playing games while interacting with individuals typing in a chat box which the streamer can see. Ludwig, Rainbolt, Geowizard, and Launders are some of the most influential streamers in the scene who helped bring large swaths of potential new players into the game. This new revival of the beloved game has ballooned player counts to over 40 million active users, a significant portion of which play everyday.
With the large community of players consistently fighting to be better, high level competition naturally started appearing on mainstream platforms. The man most responsible for showcasing high level Geoguessr is Trevor “RAINBOLT” Rainbolt. The 25 year old Arkansas native has gone viral on numerous social media platforms for his extremely accurate guesses with nearly no time to guess. Famous clips of Rainbolt showcase him pinpointing regions of countries based on their telephone poles, road markings, soil, angle of the sun, and foliage. Many times he is able to guess within a couple of miles just by looking at a photo for a couple of seconds. Fans and commenters marvel at his impressive ability to use mundane objects to distinctly pinpoint where he is. The former social media strategist has used his experience to help create viral bitesize clips of his Twitch streams which play on Tiktok, Youtube shorts, and Instagram Reels alike.
Despite individuals such as Rainbolt achieving success, the competitive Geoguessr scene continues to grow day by day. In one of the most impressive feats of the community, Geoguessr hosted their first World Cup last year on October 13-14, 2023. The event brought many of the brightest stars of the game to the Space Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The event brought a packed live crowd and live streams which subsequently pulled tens of thousands of live viewers. Casting the event was Geoguessr star Trevor “Rainbolt” and Mohan “launders” Govindasamy, best known for his fan favorite casting of professional CounterStike 2 and CounterStrike: Global Offensive. The event proved to be a major success and affirmed Geoguessr’s spot as a popular eSport. The next Geoguessr World Cup is being held this September from the 12th to the 14th. The event will be held in the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall. There will be 24 participants and the full event will be live streamed on Twitch.
Perhaps even more important than high level Geoguessr is the positive real world impacts the game has had. In July of 2023, researchers from Stanford University successively created a machine learning artificial intelligence which was able to recognize and pinpoint 40 percent of random Geoguessr “drops.” This advancement in technology will help scientists pinpoint regions based off of photos easier and help combat climate change more effectively.
Striking closer to home is Geoguessr’s impressive popularity among the youth. Many of Geoguessr’s over 40 million players are individuals under the age of 18. Despite the negative connotation video games have had, games such as Geoguessr provide an outlet to learn real skills. The game helps teach numerous children in the world. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the game is renewing many children’s interest in geography. With screens taking over much of our lives, games such as Geoguessr allow children to travel and learn about different parts of the world. This can easily foster a lifelong appreciation of the geography, cultures different than our own, and nature. Despite the fact that the game is now over a decade old, its positive impact continues to show in many different facets.
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