Elden Ring Has Been Toppled As 2022's Best-Selling Game
2022 has been a big one for the world of gaming, and although we've had upstarts like God of War Ragnarok come for the crown, the year has largely belonged to Elden Ring.
FromSoftware's Souls-like has continued the developer's legacy alongside goliaths like Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but took things even further as we hacked our way across the Lands Between.
For all of Elden Ring's success, though, it looks like it's been dethroned as 2022's best-selling game.
Is Elden Ring 2022's Best-Selling Game?
Click to enlargeAccording to the NPD Group data (via GameSpot), Elden Ring is no longer the best-selling game of 2022 in the United States. That honour goes to Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
In both October and November, Modern Warfare 2 was the best-selling game in the United States in terms of dollar sales.
NPD previously predicted that Elden Ring would outsell Modern Warfare 2, but that no longer looks like it'll happen.
NPD's Mat Piscatella told GameSpot: "It's not that Elden Ring hasn't performed incredibly well (it certainly has), it's just that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has vastly exceeded my initial expectations."
It's important to note NPD only counts US sales, so it's hard to determine whether Modern Warfare 2 has topped Elden Ring's 17.5 million worldwide sales.
Can Elden Ring Win 2022?
Click to enlargeIt's possible that Elden Ring could squeeze out a last-minute victory in December, but remember, Call of Duty games tend to be juggernauts during the holiday season.
Going in Elden Ring's favour, it did just win Game of the Year at this year's Game Awards and is likely to get some form of boost from it.
We'd always expected Modern Warfare 2 to be king of the gaming castle, especially after it made over $1 billion in 10 days to become the fastest-selling game in the franchise's history. Activision's Rob Kostich said he's "grateful to our fans, who have come together in record numbers."
"We know our players always have many entertainment choices in front of them, which our teams recognize and are constantly driving to create exciting, new experiences. Our first mid-season content refresh is only days away, and there's so much more to come in 2023."
Either way, 2022 has been a massive one for gaming. Looking ahead to 2023, we'll have to wait and see how the likes of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Tears of the Kingdom, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will perform.