Although the new Call of Duty titles are released in October or November, it typically only takes a few months to beat all other titles and come out on top of the annual US sales rankings. But in 2022, the situation may change since NPD Senior Analyst Mat Piscatella believes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 won’t be able to overtake Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 as the year’s top game—Elden Ring will do it.
NPD’s Prediction for the Best-Selling Game of 2022
Mat Piscatella from the NPD Group made some predictions for Elden Ring. In a blog, the analyst said that From Software’s RPG title will end the year as the best-selling game in the US, surpassing the numbers of Call of Duty—something rare in the US gaming industry. “Elden Ring will finish as 2022’s best-selling premium game in the US market, marking only the 3rd time since 2009 that a Call of Duty franchise release does not lead the market,” Matt Piscatella wrote. “Despite Elden Ring leading the individual title charts, Call of Duty will remain the U.S. market’s best-selling premium gaming franchise for a record 14th consecutive year.”
According to the Bandai Namco report, Elden Ring went on sale on February 25 and, as of March 31, had shipped 13.4 million units globally. Also, according to NPD data from April, Elden Ring surpassed Call of Duty: Vanguard to become the most popular game in the US market during the previous 12 months. Analyst’s other predictions revealed that God of War Ragnarok would be one of the year’s best-selling games. NPD’s Piscatella listed this year’s best-selling games in the US as follows (in alphabetical order):
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Gotham Knights
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Madden NFL 23
- NBA 2K23
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Pokémon Scarlet/Violet
Elden Ring sales will not surprise players as it surpasses Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2022, which will be released in October as the best-selling game of 2022 in the US.
