While the new titles compete for the public, games like Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V, and The Sims 4 remain some of the most played games in the U.S., with almost a decade or more removed from their original releases. In fact, only three of the top ten games (Madden NFL 22, Call of Duty: Vanguard, NBA 2K22) were released last year.
The data, from market analysis firm NPD Group, sorted the list of the top ten per year of release rather than the number of players. Therefore, it is not insinuated that Minecraft is the most played game of 2022 so far, only that it is the oldest among the 10. This also makes sense, as the older games have already created a significant fan base and have accumulated years of sales. But it’s still impressive that these games are designed so convincingly that they stay in player rotations alongside successful emerging players like Elden Ring. That may change as newer games sell more copies and grow their audience, of course. As of May 2022, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga and Elden Ring are the best-selling games number one and two, respectively.
These are the 10 most played games of the first quarter of 2022 in the US ranked by initial release year. (Source: PlayerPulse of the NPD group)
Half of the top 10 were not released this decade. Elden Ring was 20th. Ahead were games like Rocket League, World of Warcraft and Skyrim. pic.twitter.com/eWXKVMFHZj
– Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 24, 2022
As NPD’s Mat Piscatella points out, many of the pillars are live service games with some sort of social component. Even if a game isn’t primarily based on online games like Fortnite or Among Us (I’m Looking at You, Sims 4, and Animal Crossing), a solid social community can increase its lifespan for years after release. Single-player “traditional” games face stiff competition for money and player attention, especially as the number of games available each year continues to rise across all major platforms.
As a result, some games have become more difficult with microtransactions, but poorly implemented monetization can provoke a massive backlash from players. Development studios have tried to ensure their survival by putting their games on subscription services such as Game Pass or signing timed exclusivity agreements with Epic Games Store in exchange for a pre-development amount of cash (such a controversial measure). that studies should ask players not to harass developers).
Piscatella tweeted: “These services are another tool in the belt to try to get the games funded, published and to help them overcome the barriers of big perennial titles.”