From Software’s latest stumbles in the wake of the multiplayer giants
It looks like Elden Ring is nowhere near the most-played game of this year.
Elden Ring took the gaming world by storm when it launched back in February. Even those with no interest in the Souls series couldn’t help but be intrigued by The Lands Between. Its vast popularity has led to Elden Ring swiftly becoming From Software’s best-selling game ever, with 13.4 million sales in little over a month. As such, you might expect Elden Ring to be among the ten most-played titles of the year. But if you do, then you’d be wrong.
Spotted by ResetEra (opens in new tab) user Sullivan, Mat Piscatella, executive director and video game industry advisor for analyst firm The NPD Group, shared the ten most played games of 2022 on Twitter. The list shows the most played console and PC games in the US during the year’s first quarter.
As Piscatella points out, half of the games included weren’t launched in this decade. The top spot was claimed by the sandbox sensation that is Minecraft, which first launched back in 2011. Grand Theft Auto 5 came in second, while The Sims 4 ranked third. There’s a lot of love for Nintendo’s social sim Animal Crossing with the latest entry in the series, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, appearing at number six. Call of Duty is also going strong with both Warzone and Vanguard listed.
But where does this leave Elden Ring? Amazingly, From Software’s latest came in at number 20. According to Piscatella, Skyrim, Rocket League, and World of Warcraft all placed higher. One reason for Elden Ring’s surprisingly low ranking could be that this list accounts for Q1 2022, which covers the period of January to March. So while most tiles will have had three months to increase that player count, Elden Ring’s launch at the end of February means it was available for just over a third of that time.
Check out our guide to the new games 2022 and beyond for all the best titles coming to PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: gamesradar.com
