Last Updated on March 12, 2022 by Filip Krawański
Elden Ring is more than just a passing sensation. According to the industry-tracking company The NPD Group, the game is now a blockbuster hit. It is also part of the total $4.67 earnings made by the videogame industry this year. Although the sum is lower compared to the previous years, it still exceeds historical averages.
Mat Piscatella, NPD analyst, stated that in February 2022’s consumer spending on video games hardware, content, and accessories decreased 6% compared to last year, to $4.4billion total. “All major categories saw declines, with the biggest percentage drop in hardware year-over-year.” Spending on gaming hardware this year to date is $9.1billion, which is a decrease of 4% compared with the last year.
Hardware is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to sales. Both Sony and Microsoft are experiencing high demand for their consoles, just like last year. However, unlike last year neither company has enough supply to satisfy demand, due to the ongoing chip shortage.
The videogame sales, a.k.a the software, was also down though. It seems that the problem is related to hardware. People bought a lot more games when they purchased Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 in February 2021. In February 2022 however, fewer people were able to buy those consoles. Which led to the subsequent hit to videogame sales.
February 2022 NPD – Top 20 most popular games in the United States
NPD not only tracks physical sales at retailers but also receives digital data directly from publishers. Not every company is willing sadly, Nintendo, for example, doesn’t share first-party sales. Activision Blizzard also doesn’t provide sales made via their launcher, battle.net.
These charts are sorted according to dollar sales, not by the number of units sold. This is only for full-game sales and does not include in-game spending (microtransactions and such).
| Rank | February 2022 Top 20 Games Based On Sales In Dollars | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (Corp) |
| 3 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 4 | Dying Light 2: Stay Human* | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 5 | Total War: Warhammer III | Sega |
| 6 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 7 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 9 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 10 | Minecraft | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 11 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 12 | Mario Party Superstars* | Nintendo |
| 13 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 14 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 15 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 16 | Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Edition* | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 17 | NBA 2K22* | Take-Two Interactive |
| 18 | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 19 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 20 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| * Digital sales not included |
It was a fast-paced February between some of this year’s best and biggest games. While Pokemon Legends Arceus entered its second month of being on top of videogame sales charts. Dying Light 2, Horizon Forbidden West, and Elden Ring have made their debuts. Each game was an entry into established popular IPs, so things got exciting. Horizon with its sequel to Zero Dawn which sold 20 million copies and went on to get nominated for multiple games of the year awards. Dying Light 2, a sequel to another extremely popular game. However, unlike Horizon, Dying Light is a multi-platform release. And then finally Elden Ring – one the most anticipated and hyped games ever. The game that broke the steam user record of any “Soulslike” title.
Elden Ring won the race. And it seems that it wasn’t even close. From Software knocked it out of the park, and crushed any competition.
Elden Ring
FromSoftware, the studio behind Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and Dark Souls has made its niche market a formidable one. With Elden Ring, it is no longer a niche. This is the new mainstream.
Mat Piscatella, executive Director & Video Game Industry Advisor from The NPD Group, stated that Elden Ring debuted as a best-selling game in February 2022 and is the best-selling game of 2022 to date. Launch month Elden Ring’s sales were second only to Call of Duty: Vanguard from November 2021. Elden Ring was the 5th most-sold game in the last twelve months after just one month of being out! With path wide open to become the best-sold game of the last year. And then who knows? Elden Ring just might breach the top 50 best-sold games in the history of the industry.
Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon’s second-place finish in February is impressive for a PlayStation exclusive. Many PlayStation 5 fans consider it an essential, or a must-have for the PS5 system.
Piscatella stated that Horizon Forbidden West was second in sales for February 2022 and ranked first on the PlayStation platforms. “The PlayStation 5 exclusive Horizon Forbidden west sold a record number of copies, a new record for first-month sales number on the PlayStation 5 platform.”
Total War: Warhammer III
“Total War: Warhammer III” was also the No. 5 most-sold game in February 2022 and ranked second on Steam. The title was also released as part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.
20 Best Selling Games of 2022 So Far
| Rank | Top 20 Games (Physical and Digital) Ranked Based On Sales In Dollars Earned | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 3 | Horizon: Forbidden West | Sony (Corp) |
| 4 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 5 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | Dying Light 2: Stay Human* | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 7 | Monster Hunter: Rise | Capcom USA |
| 8 | Total War: Warhammer III | Sega |
| 9 | God of War (2018) | Sony (Corp) |
| 10 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 11 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 12 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 13 | Minecraft | Multiple Video Game Manufacturers |
| 14 | Mario Party Superstars* | Nintendo |
| 15 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 16 | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 17 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 18 | NBA 2K22* | Take-Two Interactive |
| 19 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 20 | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic Arts |
| * Digital sales not included |
Top 10 Most Popular Games of The Past 12 Month
| Rank | Top 10 Games From The Past 12 Months (Physical and Digital sales from) Ranked Based On Dollars In Revenue | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 2 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 3 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 4 | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 5 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 6 | Battlefield 2042 | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| 8 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 9 | Resident Evil: Village | Capcom USA |
| 10 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| * Digital sales not included |
February 2022 Top 10 Best-Sellers Nintendo-Platform Games in the U.S.
| Rank | Top 10 Best Selling Games On Nintendo Switch Ranked Based On Dollars In Revenue | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pokemon Legends: Arceus* | Nintendo |
| 2 | Mario Kart 8* | Nintendo |
| 3 | Mario Party Superstars* | Nintendo |
| 4 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | Nintendo |
| 5 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* | Nintendo |
| 6 | Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl* | Nintendo |
| 7 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | Nintendo |
| 8 | Super Mario 3D World* | Nintendo |
| 9 | Just Dance 2022 | Ubisoft |
| 10 | New Super Mario Bros.* | Nintendo |
| * Digital sales not included |
February 2022 Top 10 Best-Selling PlayStation-Platform Games in the U.S.
| Rank | Top 10 Best Selling Games On PlayStation Systems Ranked Based On Dollars In Revenue | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horizon II: Forbidden West | Sony (Corp) |
| 2 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 3 | Dying Light 2: Stay Human* | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 4 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 5 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 6 | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Sony (Corp) |
| 7 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 8 | Ghost of Tsushima | Sony (Corp) |
| 9 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 10 | NBA 2K22* | Take-Two Interactive |
| * Digital sales not included |
February 2022 Top 10 Best-Selling Xbox-platform Games in America.
| Rank | Top 10 Best Selling Games On Xbox Systems Ranked Based On Dollars In Revenue | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elden Ring | Bandai Namco Entertainment |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 3 | Dying Light 2: Stay Human* | Square Enix Inc (Corp) |
| 4 | Madden NFL 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 5 | Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War | Activision Blizzard (Corp) |
| 6 | Forza Horizon 5 | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 7 | Halo: Infinite | Microsoft (Corp) |
| 8 | FIFA 22 | Electronic Arts |
| 9 | Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla | Ubisoft |
| 10 | Far Cry 6 | Ubisoft |
| * Digital sales not included |