History Main / NewbieBoom

* {{Fanfiction}} first became big with the opening of Website/FanfictionDotNet in the late 1990s, despite having been in existence since the 1800s.
* Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn gained a huge influx of new users when Website/FanfictionDotNet cracked down on sexually explicit fanfics in 2012.

* ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'' used to have an infinitesmal fanbase, merely a fraction of an already tiny RPG-Maker fandom. Cue [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} a work]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic or]] [[Franchise/{{Danganronpa}} three]] going on hiatus/season break, leaving a huge chunk of Website/{{Tumblr}} with nothing to do...

* The ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' series was a relatively obscure game line by an unknown [[Creator/LarianStudios European dev]] until ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'' took to Website/{{Kickstarter}} in 2013, carried by the rising tide of the WesternRPG [[MediaNotes/WesternRPG renaissance]]. It was the game's quality upon release and extensive word of mouth that introduced worldwide audiences to the quirky world of Rivellon, and ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII''[='=]s massive success on Kickstarter just two years later was largely a result of the newbie boom the previous game caused (''[=D:OS2=]'' then went on to spark an even bigger influx of newcomers to the series).

* Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn had a huge influx of newcomers in June 2012; many of them had left [[Website/FanfictionDotNet Fanfiction.net]] in protest at the latter site's crackdown on M-rated stories during that time. A decade earlier than that, in 2002, Adult-Fanfiction.org (previously using a .net web address) received its biggest surge in users, back when Fanfiction.net officially removed the NC-17 rating from its stories (back when that site was using the MPAA's movie ratings before switching to its own system some years later).

* When Website/{{Tumblr}} issued a complete ban on all {{NSFW}} content in late 2018, a cadre of adult artists being driven off found a new home at Platform/{{Newgrounds}}. The influx of new users hit such highs, the servers full on crashed trying to keep up. Then in 2021, their servers became absolutely flooded with the number of people coming to the website to play ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin''.
* Tumblr itself started going through one in 2021-2022; thanks to a combination of Website/{{Twitter}} users getting fed up with the more toxic aspects of the website, Elon Musk buying out Twitter and implementing a series of unpopular changes along with a fear of far-right activity and misinformation brought by his laissez-faire "free speech" policy, and most other social media platforms falling victim to FollowTheLeader attempts in the name of remaining relevant and popular, people have been migrating to Tumblr because of its stability (in a comparative sense anyways) and the fact that its layout and features have generally remained the same since its inception. This hit a peak on November 17th, 2022. When a huge employee walkout brought so many returning users that the servers crashed. [[HistoryRepeats Much like when people originally left Tumblr for elsewhere.]]

Compare and contrast TheRedStapler, ColbertBump, SongAssociation. UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember was UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}}'s great Newbie Boom in 1993. See also RevivalByCommercialization and GatewaySeries for those shows, movies, video games, etc. which triggered the boom in the first place, and FandomLifeCycle which is relevant to this trope.

* The Web itself drew a lot of people to the Internet, much to the annoyance of people who were regulars on UsefulNotes/{{Usenet}}, IRC, and Gopher. See also UsefulNotes/EternalSeptember, Usenet's first overwhelming Newbie Boom.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. While ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' was what scored international interest in the ''Fire Emblem'' series, with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' being the first entry to leave Japanese shores, the series would remain quite niche. All games after ''The Blazing Blade'' would sell rather poorly, to the point where the developers thought they'd have to shelf the franchise entirely after one last game. That one last game? ''Awakening'', which not only became the first entry in the series to sell more than a million copies, but also completely revitalized the franchise and ''finally'' made the titles popular overseas, which is where the bulk of those newfound sales originated from. You can see why all three of the game's main protagonists got into ''Smash'' (though the main character, Chrom, had to wait until 'VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' to be added to the roster).

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. While ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' was what scored international interest in the ''Fire Emblem'' series, with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' being the first entry to leave Japanese shores, the series would remain quite niche. All games after ''The Blazing Blade'' would sell rather poorly, to the point where the developers thought they'd have to shelf the franchise entirely after one last game. That one last game? ''Awakening'', which not only became the first entry in the series to sell more than a million copies, but also completely revitalized the franchise and ''finally'' made the titles popular overseas, which is where the bulk of those newfound sales originated from.

* DenisVilleneuve's rendition of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' brought a lot of newcomers who became interested in the books.

** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' was very successful in sales, but it wasn't until the ''Melee'' incarnation that the series really got popular. Many people that started with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' were [[SequelDisplacement surprised to see there was a game before it]]. ''Melee'' is also said to be the gateway series that introduced many new players to the greater UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity.

* The Creator/BobRoss series ''Series/TheJoyOfPainting'' saw a major resurgence in popularity after the smash success of its Website/{{Twitch}} marathon in 2015, which prompted a newfound following among viewers who weren't even born yet during the show's original run.

* In general, many Platform/WiiU titles saw [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-more-switch-wii-u-ports-bring-them-on massive surges of popularity]] when they were [[UpdatedReRelease rereleased]] on the Platform/NintendoSwitch, with the bigger examples including ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', and ''VideoGame/Pikmin3''. While the Wii U was a sales dud that left Nintendo a distant third in the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars, causing even its best games to go ignored by wider audiences, the Switch was a blockbuster success whose much greater install base meant that porting these celebrated last-gen games was virtually guaranteed to make them the hits that they weren't before.

* The ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' series was a relatively obscure game line by an unknown [[Creator/LarianStudios European dev]] until ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSin'' took to Website/{{Kickstarter}} in 2013, carried by the rising tide of the WesternRPG [[UsefulNotes/WesternRPG renaissance]]. It was the game's quality upon release and extensive word of mouth that introduced worldwide audiences to the quirky world of Rivellon, and ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII''[='=]s massive success on Kickstarter just two years later was largely a result of the newbie boom the previous game caused (''[=D:OS2=]'' then went on to spark an even bigger influx of newcomers to the series).

** The second (and first major ''Western'') boom, on the other hand, came around 2005-07, with the debut of Website/{{YouTube}} and the title song for ''Film/SawIV'', "IV". Their PerformanceVideo and lives were some of the first jrock uploaded to [=YouTube=], and ''many'' Western fans first arrived either with seeing them or hide solo then them on [=YouTube=], and the new song and promised reunion inspired some interest from existing Visual Kei/jrock fans.

* Two songs used in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' became hugely popular after people first heard them in the game. Cage The Elephant's ''Ain't No Rest for the Wicked'' and DJ Champion's ''No Heaven'' were searched heavily on Website/YouTube after ''Borderlands'' was released and there were lots of posted comments stating they searched for the songs because they heard it in the game.

* When Website/{{Tumblr}} issued a complete ban on all {{NSFW}} content in late 2018, a cadre of adult artists being driven off found a new home at Website/{{Newgrounds}}. The influx of new users hit such highs, the servers full on crashed trying to keep up. Then in 2021, their servers became absolutely flooded with the number of people coming to the website to play ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin''.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Cocomelon}}'' got one when it was added to Creator/{{Netflix}}, to the point where it beat several shows for adults in rankings for the service. Keep in mind that despite it already being one of the most watched and subscribed to Website/{{YouTube}} channels beforehand, the sudden arrival on the streamer only boosted it further.

** When show creator Stephen Hillenburg died in 2018, the show, which had been declining in popularity due to ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' becoming a hit, and the skyrocketing popularity of streaming services and Website/{{YouTube}}, saw a surge in popularity among children. It was also perfectly timed as the kids who originally grew up with the show in the late 90's and early 2000's now had kids of their own to share the show with.

[[folder:Film]]

* The fandom for ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'' grew significantly after its release on Creator/DisneyPlus, ''especially'' on Platform/{{TikTok}}.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' obliterated initial expectations and revitalized the Franchise/{{Transformers}} franchise to levels not seen since the original 80's show. [[MerchandiseDriven The toyline]] was initially based on projections from the most recent animated show of the time (''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' on Creator/CartoonNetwork) and store shelves were nearly empty for weeks before they could get them stocked again. This in turn helped form the direction for the rest of the franchise for decades to come, taking cues from the story and character designs of the films.

* The entire field of women's professional wrestling (most noticeably in America, especially with regards to Wrestling/{{WWE}}) went from being hugely important in The80s, to virtually gone in The90s, to perfunctory in TurnOfTheMillennium and the first half of TheNewTens, to becoming huge and important again by the second half. To summarize the history, [[Wrestling/WWEGoldenAgeEra wrestling as a whole had a golden age in the 80s]] of colorful personalities and camp, where women's wrestling was pushed as just as a big a deal as men's wrestling, but this faded out by the decade's end following a plateau of hype and new talent. Along with a gradual ToneShift catering specifically to adult male audiences with the aggressive and macho Wrestling/AttitudeEra and the {{fanservice}}-y shlock of the Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch, this reduced a majority of their women's divisions to consist primarily of {{Faux Action Girl}}s prioritizing sex appeal and social climbing over actual wrestling acumen, whose matches could be completely ignored. However, following the widely acclaimed ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT TakeOver]]'' PPV events starting from 2014, audiences were introduced to new female wrestlers who took wrestling ''very seriously'' -- names including Wrestling/{{Paige}}, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, and Wrestling/BeckyLynch -- and were backed by a show which also took them very seriously. Audiences picked up on this massive quality boom, thus kickstarting the "Women's Revolution" of women's wrestling taking increasing prominence once again, opening the floodgates for even more new and exciting female talent (Wrestling/AlexaBliss, [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]], Wrestling/BiancaBelair, Wrestling/RondaRousey, just to name a few), and treating their various stories and championship runs as big deals, with ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 35'''s main event by a title match between Lynch, Rousey, and Flair, the first-ever women's main event match in the show's history. In TheNewTwenties, women's wrestling remains a big deal, and modern, up-to-date wrestling fans who don't give it any attention compared to men's wrestling are themselves becoming more of a minority.

* The entire field of women's professional wrestling (most noticeably in America, especially with regards to Wrestling/{{WWE}}) went from being hugely important in The80s, to virtually gone in The90s, to perfunctory in TurnOfTheMillennium and the first half of TheNewTens, to becoming huge and important again by the second half. To summarize the history, [[Wrestling/WWEGoldenAgeEra wrestling as a whole had a golden age in the 80s]] of colorful personalities and camp, where women's wrestling was pushed as just as a big a deal as men's wrestling, but this faded out by the decade's end following a plateau of hype and new talent. Along with a gradual ToneShift catering specifically to adult male audiences with the aggressive and macho Wrestling/AttitudeEra and the {{fanservice}}-y shlock of the Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch, this reduced a majority of their women's divisions to consist primarily of {{Faux Action Girl}}s prioritizing sex appeal and social climbing over actual wrestling acumen, whose matches could be completely ignored. However, following the widely acclaimed ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT TakeOver]]'' PPV events starting from 2014, audiences were introduced to new female wrestlers who took wrestling ''very seriously'' -- names including Wrestling/{{Paige}}, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, and Wrestling/BeckyLynch -- and were backed by a show which also took them very seriously. Audiences picked up on this massive quality boom, thus kickstarting the "Women's Revolution" of women's wrestling taking increasing prominence once again, opening the floodgates for even more new and exciting female talent (Wrestling/AlexaBliss, [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]], Wrestling/BiancaBelair, Wrestling/RondaRousey, just to name a few), and treating their various stories and championship runs as big deals, with ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 35'''s main event by a title match between Lynch, Rousey, and Flair, the first-ever women's main event match in the show's history. In TheNewTwenties, women's wrestling remains a big deal, and modern, up-to-date wrestling fans who don't give it any attention compared to male wrestling are themselves becoming more of a minority.

* The entire field of women's professional wrestling (most noticeably in America, especially with regards to Wrestling/{{WWE}}) went from being hugely important in The80s, to virtually gone in The90s, to perfunctory in TurnOfTheMillennium and the first half of TheNewTens, to becoming huge and important again by the second half. To summarize the history, [[Wrestling/WWEGoldenAgeEra wrestling as a whole had a golden age in the 80s]] of colorful personalities and camp, where women's wrestling was pushed as just as a big a deal as men's wrestling, but this faded out by the decade's end following a plateau of hype and new talent. Along with a gradual ToneShift catering specifically to adult male audiences with the aggressive and macho Wrestling/AttitudeEra and the {{fanservice}}-y shlock of the Wrestling/WWEDivaSearch, this reduced a majority of their women's divisions to consist primarily of {{Faux Action Girl}}s prioritizing sex appeal and social climbing over actual wrestling acumen, whose matches could be completely ignored. However, following the widely acclaimed ''[[Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} NXT TakeOver]]'' PPV events starting from 2014, audiences were introduced to new female wrestlers who took wrestling ''very seriously'' -- names including Wrestling/{{Paige}}, Wrestling/CharlotteFlair, Wrestling/SashaBanks, Wrestling/{{Bayley}}, and Wrestling/BeckyLynch -- and were backed by a show which also took them very seriously. Audiences picked up on this massive quality boom, thus kickstarting the "Women's Revolution" of women's wrestling taking increasing prominence once again, opening the floodgates for even more new and exciting female talent (Wrestling/AlexaBliss, [[Wrestling/KanakoUrai Asuka]], Wrestling/BiancaBelair, Wrestling/RondaRousey, just to name a few), and treating their various stories and championship runs as big deals, with ''Wrestling/WrestleMania 35'''s main event by a title match between Lynch, Rousey, and Flair, the first-ever women's main event match in the show's history.

* In general, many UsefulNotes/WiiU titles saw [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-more-switch-wii-u-ports-bring-them-on massive surges of popularity]] when they were [[UpdatedReRelease rereleased]] on the Platform/NintendoSwitch, with the bigger examples including ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', and ''VideoGame/Pikmin3''. While the Wii U was a sales dud that left Nintendo a distant third in the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars, causing even its best games to go ignored by wider audiences, the Switch was a blockbuster success whose much greater install base meant that porting these celebrated last-gen games was virtually guaranteed to make them the hits that they weren't before.

** ''Metroid'' went through a minor boom when ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' went on sale for $0.30 on the UsefulNotes/WiiU UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole. It became one of the best-selling downloadable games on the console, and newbies being a huge portion of the buyers is evidenced by the infamous plethora of Website/{{Miiverse}} posts by people unable to figure out how to use the Morph Ball.

** The reveal of ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' at UsefulNotes/{{E3}} 2021 attracted a lot of attention from people wondering why the word "Dread" had [[{{Vaporware}} the fandom completely]] [[SavedFromDevelopmentHell lose their minds]], with the statement that it would be closing a story arc that diehard fans weren't even ''aware'' was a thing attracting even more intrigue. ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns Samus Returns]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidFusion Fusion]]'', and even ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' would jump to the top of Wii U and UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS sales charts in the weeks following; the only reason ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' didn't follow suit was because it which was available as part of Nintendo Switch Online. As for ''Metroid Dread'' itself, it became the most pre-ordered game following E3 2021 on sites like Amazon and [=GameStop=], beating out even ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl]]'', and went on to become the best-selling game in the series within its first few months.

** The ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'' fandom got a sudden surge of new members when the game ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes finally]]'' got rereleased on the UsefulNotes/WiiU. At one point it was ''the'' most downloaded UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole game on the console, which resulted in many newcomers to the series, with some being people who had never heard of the game at that point. This notably caused some friction between [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood those who were in the cult fandom before it gained a wider audience]], as not only are the newer fans more willing to point out ''[=EarthBound=]''[='s=] flaws, they've even started to criticize ''VideoGame/Mother3''[='s=] flaws upon finding out about it, which had been considered a SacredCow.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' was a SleeperHit, but it had the misfortune on being released on a console that was a financial failure. ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', on the other hand, was released early in the lifespan of a ''far'' more successful system and, just like its predecessor, became a KillerApp. The sequel introduced many, many, ''many'' more new fans who had heard about the series but didn't try it out during the Wii U days, or became aware of the franchise through the characters appearing in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8 Deluxe'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. The game was so successful that the development crew ended up extending the releases of new stages and weapons, as well as the Splatfest schedule, and it's one of the best-selling UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch games at over ten million units sold, firmly establishing the fledgling IP as one of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s most profitable.

** Thanks to being a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, the ''Smash'' series itself tends to give other franchises a ColbertBump. The most notable examples over the years are ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}''[[note]](A {{JRPG}} series that sold poorly in North America because of [[OurProductSucks an awkward marketing campaign]], and may have become forgotten in the West if it wasn't for Ness being one of the original fighters in ''Smash 64''. All three games in the series are now considered {{Cult Classic}}s.)[[/note]], ''Franchise/FireEmblem''[[note]](The {{trope namer}} for MarthDebutedInSmashBros, the popularity of Marth and Roy led to the series finally getting localized from the seventh game onward, giving the games a foothold in the West until its own, self-created Newbie Boom grew the fanbase and cemented its popularity a decade later.)[[/note]], and ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''.[[note]](The newfound attention got [[VideoGame/KidIcarusOfMythsAndMonsters the North America-only sequel]] to see release on the Japanese UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, followed by [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising an entirely new game]] produced by ''Smash Bros.'' creator Creator/MasahiroSakurai himself.)[[/note]] Fighters added as DLC especially get this treatment, thanks to receiving much greater focus in dedicated WebVideo/NintendoDirect videos where their franchise history is explained in detail.

** The [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 first game]] got newcomers invested partially because of protagonist Shulk's inclusion in the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU fourth installment]] of the ever-popular ''Super Smash Bros.'' series (and especially the "I'm really feeling it" meme), partially because of LetsPlay/{{Chuggaaconroy}} playing it, and partially because it got a [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes much-needed]] re-release on the New Nintendo 3DS. Most fans welcomed them with open arms, though some carry a joking "[[{{Hipster}} liking Xenoblade before it was cool]]" attitude. The release of the ''Definitive Edition'' on UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch brought with it another boom.

* There were a few attempts to create a FanTranslation of ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' for the Super Famicom in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but they were never finished. In 2007, Konami created a thematically similar game in English called VideoGame/BrooktownHigh, but it received mixed reviews, and got only a small fan following. The English speaking fandom seemed to be dying in the late 2000s. The newbie boom for the Tokimeki Memorial franchise began with a 2010 fan translation of the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorialGirlsSide''.

** This happens with a lot of games sold over {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, for that matter, between both free weekends and almost everything on the catalog going on sale for 50% to 75% off or more for various holiday sales.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was also something of a starting point for many fans due it originally releasing on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 and becoming a KillerApp for the system, which ended up becoming the best-selling console of all time.

* Such a boom happened in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fanbase during the early 2000's. During the early-to-mid nineties Sonic had been an icon, and probably more recognizable among children than Mickey Mouse. But by the late nineties, Sonic had sort of fallen out of style (mostly thanks to the lack of a Sonic title to serve as the KillerApp for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn; ''VideoGame/SonicXTreme'' had an infamously-troubled development and was eventually cancelled). Then along came ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', ''Sonic Mega Collection'' and ''Anime/SonicX'', all of which helped draw in huge amounts of new fans. The Newbie Boom of Sonic in the early 2000s can largely be attributed to the series going multiplatform after Sega retired from the hardware industry. With Sega porting ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure 1'' and ''2'' to the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, it allowed Nintendo fans to check out what put their once-rival on the map in the first place. This, in addition to the fact that every Sonic game from ''Sonic Heroes'' onward was available for every major console, allowed the franchise to reach a wider audience. These days, it's not uncommon for many younger Sonic fans to have started with the [=GameCube=] ports of the ''Sonic Adventure'' titles, as opposed to the Genesis originals. Unfortunately, due to all the gameplay changes the franchise has gone through over the years, this has led to the most BrokenBase of any gaming fandom.

* The success of UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames (Xbox 360, [=PS3=] and Wii) led to many an ignorant newbie who hadn't heard of anything beyond ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' or whatever was being parodied on TV at the moment. This is mainly due to the success of the Wii, which was actually designed to invoke this trope.
* While the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' had a small fanbase in the West for many years thanks to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation games and distribution of the fan-translated ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', it wasn't until the release of breakout hit ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' that its popularity exploded. Naturally, this created a [[BrokenBase sometimes-bitter divide]] between fans the old-school ''Tales'' games (''Phantasia'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Destiny]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfEternia Eternia]]'') and the new-school games (''Symphonia'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia Legendia]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss Abyss]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia Vesperia]]'').

* The ''VideoGame/DayZ'' mod for ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}} II'' was given [[ColbertBump coverage]] by Creator/RoosterTeeth, resulting in what was once a semi-popular mod among the existing ''ARMA'' fanbase becoming a phenomenon loaded with clueless newbies who have no clue just what they're getting into with a realistic zombie survival simulator, to the point where more than one person bought the game just for the mod - even the {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} pages for ''ARMA II'' and the ''Operation Arrowhead'' expansion specifically mention that both are required for ''[=DayZ=]''.

** The same effect happened again after ''Postal 3'' actually came out and turned out to be an ExecutiveMeddling-induced trainwreck - Running With Scissors managed to get the original games released over {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}'s Greenlight service to distance themselves from "Russian Postal", meaning all the aforementioned non-playing fans of the series now had the chance to actually play it.

** ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'' has had two of these in the form of official community events designed to attract new players. The first of these, titled "Crimefest", saw current players convincing people to join the official {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} group, with free content being unlocked when the group reached a certain size. The second, titled "Hype Train", was rather similar, only with the new goal of purchasing enough games and DLC to build up enough 'hype fuel' to reach the final destination. Both events featured free weekends, massive sales for both the game and all [=DLCs=], resulting in a relatively large player boom. The Hype Train in particular saw crossovers with both ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'' and ''VideoGame/{{Speedrunners}}'', drawing attention from those fanbases as well.

* ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'' had a minor bump on the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 side when there was a SEGA sale on the Xbox Live Market. The community had been practically dead for a while, but after the sale many more newbies joined, and full 16-player battle royales were held for the first time in months.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' was a dud in the west back in 2008 until a price drop months after launch, and inevitably the series became another unfortunate example of NoExportForYou by the time ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'' came out - However in 2014 a [[UpdatedRerelease PC port of the game]] released on {{UsefulNotes/Steam}} almost out of the blue, which quickly made its way up the Top Sellers chart at launch and once again during the 2014 Winter Sale. Because of this success, when ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles4'' was first announced, it was immediately confirmed for a worldwide release.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' gained a lot of its current fans when the [[VideoGame/Bayonetta2 second game]] was announced as a UsefulNotes/WiiU exclusive. People began talking about her a lot either due to her being a rare M-rated game on the console or the backlash a lot of her fans created because the sequel wasn't multi-platform. The series then got another boost when the eponymous character was announced as the final downloadable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWIIU''.

** ''Persona 4 Golden'''s release on [=PC=] did a smaller version of this among the ''UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'' users.

* The first two ''VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce'' were successful in their native Japan, but their European release were very low budget translations [[InvisibleAdvertising with no marketing]] and the games were [[NoExportForYou denied certification]] by Sony's American branch. As a result, it was decided that the next game would be made a UsefulNotes/Xbox360 exclusive to increase the series popularity in the west, a gamble that paid off: while ''Earth Defense Force 2017'''s saw a slight decline in Japan due to the unpopularity of the system, good word of mouth made it a SleeperHit in the west and cemented ''EDF'' as Sandlot's and D3 Publisher's CashCowFranchise.

** By far the most notable example is ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', benefiting from the perfect storm of internet buzz, the critically-panned ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Tetris Ultimate]]'', and a young UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch. It was a breakout hit, creating countless new ''Puyo'' fans while kickstarting FanTranslation efforts for the other ''Puyo Puyo'' games as well as for the more obscure ''Madou Monogatari'' series from which they spun off.

* Despite it being a LongRunner and one of the progenitors of the ActionRPG genre, the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' franchise never really got out of its niche status. ''VideoGame/YsVIIILacrimosaOfDana'' was the first in the series to truly break into the mainstream by appealing to a more WideOpenSandbox-style of exploration and play. Many newcomers who had heard of, but never tried ''Ys'', would do so via this game, to which more than half a million copies would be sold across all available platforms two years after its initial UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita release, the most out of any ''Ys'' installment.

** Thanks to being a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, the ''Smash'' series itself tends to give other franchises a ColbertBump. The most notable examples over the years are ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}''[[note]](A {{JRPG}} series that sold poorly in North America because of [[OurProductSucks an awkward marketing campaign]], and may have become forgotten in the West if it wasn't for Ness being one of the original fighters in ''Smash 64''. All three games in the series are now considered {{Cult Classic}}s.)[[/note]], ''Franchise/FireEmblem''[[note]](The {{trope namer}} for MarthDebutedInSmashBros, the popularity of Marth and Roy led to the series finally getting localized from the seventh game onward, giving the games a foothold in the West until its own, self-created Newbie Boom grew the fanbase and cemented its popularity a decade later.)[[/note]], and ''VideoGame/KidIcarus''.[[note]](The newfound attention got the North America-only sequel to see release on the Japanese UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, followed by [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising an entirely new game]] produced by ''Smash Bros.'' creator Creator/MasahiroSakurai himself.)[[/note]] Fighters added as DLC especially get this treatment, thanks to receiving much greater focus in dedicated WebVideo/NintendoDirect videos where their franchise history is explained in detail.

** Happened in-universe when Gold Roger was executed and said his treasure would be for the one who found it in the Grand Line. This was know as the start of The Golden Age of Piracy for all the new pirates who embarked in finding it; more senior pirates like Whitebeard, however, saw it as a very negative thing as the seas will be plagued by new romance-driven pirates.

* Ortega y Gasset claimed this happening to RealLife Europe in his (non-fiction) work ''The Revolt of the Masses''. Until ~1800, Europe's population grew slowly to 180 million people; from 1800 to 1914, to whopping 460 millions. Being a cultural pessimist, he blamed the decay of culture on this.

* The first ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' book was published in 2005. The initial series were bestsellers but it wasn't until the movie was made a few years later that it became a cultural phenomenon.

* In general, many UsefulNotes/WiiU titles saw [[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-more-switch-wii-u-ports-bring-them-on massive surges of popularity]] when they were [[UpdatedReRelease rereleased]] on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, with the bigger examples including ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', and ''VideoGame/Pikmin3''. While the Wii U was a sales dud that left Nintendo a distant third in the UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars, causing even its best games to go ignored by wider audiences, the Switch was a blockbuster success whose much greater install base meant that porting these celebrated last-gen games was virtually guaranteed to make them the hits that they weren't before.

* Similar to ''The Muppet Show'', ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse'' saw a huge Newbie Boom from October to November of 2022 when Disney+ made the entire series (barring a handful of [[MissingEpisode missing episodes]]) available for streaming.

** Apparently, a lot of people think that the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series started with ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII VII]]'', because for many people, it was the first ''Final Fantasy'' game, if not the first RPG, they ever played. This is due in part to the series not being released in Europe until this point and in part to the fact that only three games were released in the United States until this point (and they weren't that well-known).
*** Right now, there's several main generations in the ''VII'' fandom - the old generation that played the original game when it came out in 1997, the generation that played the original game when they received a hand-me-down console in the early 00s, the generation that got into the series with the ''Compilation'' titles in the late 2000s (particularly ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', which has a strong fandom of its own), the generation that started with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' in 2015 and decided to check out the fan-favorite earlier entry (before the ''Remake'' came out), and a generation of fans who either played the original game when it came out on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch at the end of the 2010s or ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' a year later. As ''Final Fantasy'' is aimed at young teenagers, many of the new fans are this age, meaning that twenty years of aging technology hasn't softened the game's ability to relate to kids.

* Franchise/WonderWoman is in no way an obscure character but she's always been in the shadow of characters like Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}}, and sometimes even ComicBook/GreenLantern. She's always the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple main female]] amongst mainstream comic book characters, especially DC. In TheSeventies she was quite popular, ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 even having a very popular show]]'', but for over a decade afterwards she wasn't really doing anything for people outside the comic book fandom. The DCAU in general, especially ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', really made people care about Diana again and created a lot of fans for her. ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' ''really'' helped her as well.
* CW's ''Series/TheFlash2014'' introduced a whole new generation of fans to ''Franchise/TheFlash''. ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' did this years earlier however for ComicBook/WallyWest instead of Barry Allen.

* The ''Franchise/XMen'' were put on the backburner at Marvel for several years due to the deal surrounding the [[Film/XMenFilmSeries film series]] keeping the adaptation rights of all mutants and associated characters in Fox's hands rather than their own. A majority of the cast was either killed off or BroughtDownToNormal, remaining members were dispersed among other teams that didn't have much to do with mutants, characters often fought each other or other heroes instead of villains, and when the company moved to establish ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as a replacement for X-Men and mutants the brand was only pushed down further. But then the 2019 SoftReboot ''[[ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX House of X and Powers of X]]'' led by Creator/JonanthanHickman established an all-new status quo for mutantkind that resurrected and repowered many characters and burst onto the scene with a multitude of books - most of which were hugely successful because the new stories provided an optimal starting point for new readers. Not only are the current lines seeing critical praise, but fans are using them to dig into past stories as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' renewed interest in the ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise and lead to it becoming one of Disney's biggest cash cows of the 90's. In fact, said show was so successful that ABC ran it in reruns until the late 90's.

* A much more sinister variant occurred in Germany in the 1930s, when the electoral success of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP, or Nazis) led to a huge influx of new members, even before the party formally took power. This really happened in two waves; the first in 1930 after the Nazis came second in the elections to the ''Reichstag'' (up from ''ninth'' in the elction of just two years previously), and the second in 1933 after Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. The extent of this was such that the Party itself created tiers of membership based on when one had joined, with those who had been members before 1930 - with the implication that these members were the truly devoted core of fanatics - being given the title of ''Alter Kämpfer'', or "Old Fighter", to distinguish them from the ''Septemberlinge'' - the "Septemberlings", those who had only joined when the Party had enjoyed some success. The first 100,000 Party members were given the Golden Party Badge for their long service, while the Blood Order was awarded only to those who had taken part in the Munich Putsch of 1923, to mark them out from those whom even some of the Nazi leadership disparaged as jumping on the bandwagon.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' renewed interest in the ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise and may have lead to it becoming one of Disney's biggest cash cows of the 90's. In fact, said show was so successful that ABC ran it in reruns until the late 90's.