Best-selling video games - top markets - statistics & facts

The United States – shooters and franchises

In 2021, Call of Duty: Vanguard (published by Activision Blizzard) was the top-selling video game in the United States based on dollar sales. Call of Duty titles took the first two spots in the annual ranking of the leading video games, followed by the sports game Madden NFL 22. U.S. gamers are loyal to their franchises – virtually all the top-selling games of the year were part of some gaming franchise, with Minecraft and Back 4 Blood being the only titles that were not part of a bigger series.
A snapshot of the monthly video game sales in the United States reveals that for the full year 2022, RPG Elden Ring may claim a spot among the best-selling video games in the United States – a feat made even more impressive by the fact that the game has the reputation of being notoriously difficult and has nothing to do with sports or shooters.

The United Kingdom – football (of course)

The picture is fairly similar when looking at the United Kingdom, the biggest gaming market in Europe: sports games and shooters reign supreme, with EA’s FIFA series taking up two spots in the top 4 of the best-selling games in the UK in 2021. Football is also the name of the game in terms of the most popular PC download-to-own video game in the UK – literally, as Football Manager 2022 sold roughly 138 thousand units on Steam in 2021. The same goes for the UK’s top-selling video games based on physical unit sales – FIFA 22 was the top title of the year.

Other European markets – more football and Mario

The UK is not the only market where FIFA 22 is the biggest game of the year. In 2021, the popularity of football in Europe is highlighted as FIFA 22 was the top-selling game in 18 major European gaming markets with the only exception being Finland, where ice hockey is more favored and NHL 22 took the crown. Across Europe, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe ranked in second place, followed by Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
Other leading games in Europe include the ever-popular action-adventure Grand Theft Auto V (GTA5), which surpassed 165 million lifetime sales in May 2022, sandbox game Minecraft, and another action-adventure Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. In fact, Great Britain was the only market in Europe where a Call of Duty title ranked among the top 3 best-selling games of the year.

Japan – Nintendo Switch is crushing the competition

In contrast, the ranking of the best-selling console games in Japan is dominated by Nintendo Switch titles and does not feature any FPS or football franchise games. Monster Hunter Rise was the top-selling console title in Japan in 2021, selling about 2.35 million copies during the year. Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Pokémon Shining Pearl were ranked second with about 2.31 million Switch game units sold. In April 2022, only one sports game was among the monthly top-selling video games in Japan 1310712: eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2022.

China – growing despite video gaming regulations

Despite strong government regulations, the beleaguered video game market in China has been growing by leaps and bounds. The lifting of the gaming console ban in the mid-2010s has spurred the Chinese gaming audience’s interest in console games and in 2021, adventure-platform title It Takes Two took the top spot as the officially best-selling PS4 game in China. Regardless of the troubles of console gaming in the country, China also boasts a flourishing homegrown video gaming industry. In 2021, Naraka: Bladepoint was the best-selling Chinese video game, selling approximately 7 million copies.

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