Elden Ring is nowhere near the most-played game of 2022

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From Software's latest stumbles in the wake of the multiplayer giants

Elden Ring
(Image credit: FromSoftware)

It looks like Elden Ring might not be anywhere 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 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 according to its long-running PlayerPulse survey. The list shows the most played console and PC games in the US during the year's first quarter.

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As Piscatella points out, half of the games included weren't launched in this decade. Sorted by release year, the top ten features Minecraft, GTA 5, The Sims 4, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and both Call of Duty Warzone and Call of Duty: Vanguard.

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.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.