It’s been 750+ days since YouTube officially announced that 360° videos would now be made available to the public for mass-distribution (statement here). Since then, we have seen the 360° video wave surge through the media as brands from all over the world have utilized this exciting new technology to tell stories and build empathy.

Following the roaring success that was last year’s Top 10 Most Viewed, we’re doing the same thing this year, and today we will be taking a look at the videos that up until now have had the highest number of views this year. It goes without saying that this list will be updated on a monthly basis as we move towards the next year, so please come back for more videos later this year.

Without much further ado – here’s our list of the most popular videos of 2017. Each one of these gorgeous clips have accumulated more than 1 million views this year.

Top 10 Most Viewed 360° Videos of 2017

I bet you thought we’d be seeing content from world-leading brands such as Mc’Donalds, AT&T, Coca Cola. While those brands may all be leading forces in traditional media, through the lens of 360° video content – the kings and queens of 360 content are the bold and the brave:

10. SUICIDE SILENCE – “Doris” (OFFICIAL 360° VIDEO)

Suicide Silence has utilized 360° videos for their latest release of “Doris”, a beast of a metal track. Experience its head-banging glory of being surrounded with videos from the pumped up crowd of fans. While this may not be recorded in 360° but rather regular videos stitched together, it still lives up to our criteria of being available on YouTube in 360° format, so that still counts.

Suicide Silence is the first metal band to make it into an article on our website, and for that we salute them. Metal music is an acquired taste, which may be why the like/dislike ratio is the way it is.

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Jan 6, 2017

View Count: 1,409,421

Like / Dislike Ratio: 18,265 / 32,966 (Unfavorable)

Views / Day: 12,697

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlsCLkeWpcY

9. A Whole New Spin | 360° Video | FIAT 500X Crossover

A Whole New Spin by Fiat America illustrates a simple but promising multi-weather concept, here in their recent ad for their 500X model. Tune in for the jingly stock music and bask in the fact that this is a short but on-point video that doesn’t overdo anything. Good on you Fiat!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Feb 7, 2017

View Count: 1,562,661

Like / Dislike Ratio: 37 / 4 (Favorable)

Views / Day: 19,781

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8. NASA VR: On the Surface of Planet TRAPPIST-1d (360 view)

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recently built this 360 panorama of a newly detected Earth-size planet going under the name TRAPPIST-1d. While it hasn’t yet been determined whether or not the planet is habitable for us to live on, that doesn’t stop us from creating a nice little 360° video exploring its surface, so that we can get in a little closer and let our imagination run wild.

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Feb 22, 2017

View Count: 1,564,077

Like / Dislike Ratio: 4,221 / 179 (Very Favorable)

Views / Day: 24,439

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7. Game Theory Presents: MY SECRET PROJECT…MatPat’s GLOBAL GAMER! (Part 1 of 2)

Gaming has, since YouTube’s inception been the holy grail to video views, and people like Markiplier, JackSepticEye and PewDiePie keeps leading the way showing us how it’s all done. The fact that we have a gamer channel on today’s list is no surprise. Game Theory’s MatPat uncovers the secrets behind the world’s different gaming cultures, in his quest to unite gamers from around the world. We salute his effort, and really do believe it’s a technically well-made piece of content! 360° videos are leading the technological revolution of many an industry. Onwards!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Apr 6, 2017

View Count: 1,958,727

Like / Dislike Ratio: 69,603 / 3,485 (Very Favorable)

Views / Day: 93,273

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360° Horror: BLOODY MARY 360 horror: Bloody Mary 😱😱😱Tag a friend to scare them! Posted by Jeremy Sciarappa on Sunday, January 22, 2017

6. 360 Horror: Bloody Mary

With Facebook being a close second-mover to the 360° video distribution market, it only stands to reason that it’s time to include a video from the world’s leading social media platform. It looks like Jeremy Sciarappa, the content creator behind several popular immersive videos have been busy again this year, because yet another one of his videos have gone viral, as “Bloody Mary” successfully has frightened millions of people (including us here at the editorial)

Platform: Facebook

Published on: Jan 22, 2017

View Count: 2,340,222

Reaction Count: 13.000+

Views / Day: 24,634

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5. 360 VIDEO | Let’s Play Minecraft | Part 1

Speaking of gamers, it’s time to bring out the big guns. The biggest gun, actually. Markiplier is one of YouTube’s most subscribed channels and his 360° Minecraft has accumulated more than 2.5 million views in less than a month. That’s more than 100,000 views pr. day and surely is testament to the fact that Markiplier is a force to be reckoned with.

Fun fact: If you thought global corporations reigned supreme on YouTube, think again. Markiplier’s channel carries more than 10x the amount of subscribers as the Coca Cola YouTube channel!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Apr 1, 2017

View Count: 2,797,871

Like / Dislike Ratio: 145,999 / 2,729 (Very Favorable)

Views / Day: 107,610

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4. 360 VIDEO | ГРИБЫ Голосами Мультяшек (ВЕЛИК)

It’s time for a joker. This video built by ND Production is a who’s who of considerable weirdness. Unfortunately nobody here at the staff speaks Russian, so it’s a bit hard for us to uncover what the content is really about. The video contains characters from popular cartoons as well as no shortage of twerking females. Sex sells, we suppose!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Feb 18, 2017

View Count: 3,266,232

Like / Dislike Ratio: 76,037 / 5,879 (Very Favorable)

Views / Day: 48,033

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3. Battle Test: A Nissan Rogue 360° VR Experience

This is (beyond a shadow of a doubt) what we regard as one of the best 360° videos of 2017! If you have ever watched a Super Bowl or MTV Music Award commercial break, you know that when it counts – car commercials can be incredibly entertaining (we’re looking at you Buick and Cam Newton!). Not to be outdone, Nissan made this insanely high-production powerhouse of an ad in which they merged iconic Star Wars scenery and acting into their campaign for their Nissan Rogue. If you’re any kind of a Star Wars fan, we’re going to have to insist that you watch this, but we warn you – you might just pack your running shoes and sprint straight to your nearest Nissan vendor by the time the video comes to an end.

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Apr 1, 2017

View Count: 3,411,432

Like / Dislike Ratio: 768 / 59 (Favorable)

Views / Day: 131,209

Note: The original video has been taken down, so the following video is a replicated version.

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2. Mundo Bita e os Condutores do Futuro 360º

Loosely translated into “Mundo Bita and the Drivers of the Future 360º” this brilliant and viral video that looks as if it came straight out of a kid’s show is actually an ad for Brazilian car batteries. This ad goes to show again what we said earlier about how popularity in the 360° video space isn’t based in which brand you belong to, or who your corporate overlord is. It’s predicated on the quality you produce – and this one is really well made!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Jan 20, 2017

View Count: 5,066,609

Like / Dislike Ratio: 1,239 / 490 (Favorable)

Views / Day: 52,233

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1. Gorillaz – Saturnz Barz (Spirit House) 360

With a whopping 7 million views accumulated in just a single month, our #1 on this year’s list is Gorillaz, with Saturnz Barz (Spirit House). The video is catchy, bright and full of intrigue (and a good deal of Cel shading). Gorillaz would seem to have had a bit of a head-start though, with them trying out experimental content while packing more than 1.9 million subscribers to their YouTube channel. Great work!

Platform: YouTube

Published on: Mar 23, 2017

View Count: 7,622,619

Like / Dislike Ratio: 212,334 / 4,922 (Very Favorable)

Views / Day: 217,789

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Influential Brands Utilizing 360° Videos in 2017

In terms of telling a story, while wrapping the user in technology, 360° video has been rising in popularity, and before we end this article, we’ll just briefly present you with this list of honorable mentions, not highlighted in our list this year:

The videos highlighted here are from big brands and large corporations, so that the ones out there who were hoping for something known and familiar won’t miss out!

Thank you for taking a look at this year’s top performers! If you haven’t had a chance yet, we encourage each one of you to check out YouTube’s dedicated 360° video channel, which as of right now has more than 2.3 million subscribers to it’s name. We do realize that there’s quite some time until 2018. Stay tuned as we’ll update the content by the end of the year with an additional 40 videos, so we finish the year with the most elaborate list on the web!