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Elden Ring is the best-selling game of 2022 year-to-date - NPD

According to a new NPD report, Elden Ring is already leading the pack when it comes to best-selling games YTD.

TJ Denzer

March 11, 2022 9:35 AM

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Elden Ring is easily one of the most exciting games to come out in 2022. Its vast open-world and plethora of exploration and discoveries makes for an adventure that can last for dozens of delightful and/or nail-biting hours. It’s reportedly paying off for George R.R. Martin and FromSoftware too. According to a recent NPD report, Elden Ring is the best-selling game year-to-date (YTD) in 2022, overtaking a lot of notable titles.

NPD’s report on various 2022 video game sales statistics came out on March 11, 2022, as shared by NPD executive director & video game industry advisor Matt Piscatella. According to the report, Elden Ring achieved not only the leading spot as the best-selling game of February, but also the best-selling game of 2022 YTD. Additionally, it has also allegedly reached the spot of fifth best-selling game in a 12-month period as of the end of February 2022. It was also the 2nd highest selling game of any single month in the past 12 months, trailing only behind Call of Duty: Vanguard in November 2021.

US NPD PREMIUM GAMES - After 1 month in market, Elden Ring ranked as the 5th best-selling game of the 12 month period ending February 2022. Elden Ring ranked 1st on Steam and Xbox platforms in February, while placing 2nd on PlayStation.

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 11, 2022

It should come as no secret why Elden Ring has allegedly achieved such sales. The game has been much applauded by players and critics, even if it is still quite difficult. Not only did we agree with the praise in our Shacknews review of the game, but we would also argue that Elden Ring goes beyond certain stubborn boundaries FromSoftware games have faced before. Its launch hasn’t been without issues, especially on PC, but it still has enough going on to have captured a lot of hearts that otherwise wouldn’t play this type of game.

With so much going for it so far, it will be interesting to see if Elden Ring keeps its stride. Having pulled just under 1 million concurrent players on Steam in its second weekend, Elden Ring seems to have the legs to keep it in hearts and minds throughout the gaming year.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.