The beginning of this decade was rough, to say the least. But luckily there were video games to brighten up households a bit, and judging by the increased sales during the massive quarantine period, many people became gamers. From 2020 to 2022, certain video game franchise giants have enjoyed tens of millions of sales and overwhelming support.
But which of them actually took in the most in the early part of this decade? At the same time, which of these video games from the 2020s has entertained and distracted most of the world? It’s high time to take a look at the numbers and the state of the video game industry. But for the sake of fairness and transparency, titles whose studios did not report actual numbers are not included. Re-releases and games from the previous decade are also excluded, as they have practically gained a huge edge.
8 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
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Reported sales:
5.7 million (during the first month) -
Year of release: 2020
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Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
It is a Duty game, so the huge number of sales is to be expected. Activision has not released the total number for Black Ops Cold War, but multiple sources point to an impressive 5.7 million digital units sold during the game’s release month, which is November 2020.
Black Ops Cold War went on to earn $678 million for Activision during its first six weeks of sales, according to SuperData. The total could well be more as the game was crowned the best-selling title of 2020, the pinnacle of the pandemic. Still, it’s not enough to surpass modern warfare, who made $600 million in just three days.
7 FIFA 22
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Reported sales:
9 million (first two months) -
Year of release: 2021
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Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
For anyone wondering why Electronic Arts releases football, basketball, and baseball games every year with sparse innovations, here’s why. During FIFA 22Nine million copies were sold in the first eight weeks alone. That’s according to data released by EA.
What did help with sales is the new HyperMotion feature, which changes this FIFA one of the franchise’s most competitive titles to date. In fact, reviews are generally more favorable compared to the older ones FIFA spell. EA hasn’t disclosed total sales yet, but it’s easy to assume it’s significantly higher than nine million.
6 FIFA 21
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Reported sales:
31 million players
by August 2021 -
Year of release: 2020
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Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows, Google Stadia
EA has yet to brag about the total number of sales and players for FIFA22, but it seems they didn’t need that. Their previous game, FIFA21, had already made some monstrous numbers, as by mid-2021 it had reportedly amassed a total of 31 million players.
These numbers can now be lower or higher: FIFA 22 has been out for a while, but they may be indicative of FIFA 21the sales figures. After all, EA has no problem with crowning FIFA 21 as the most successful FIFA sometime back in 2021. They may or may not change their mind once they are done counting FIFA 22his blessings.
5 Pokemon Legends: Arceus
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Reported sales:
12.64 million copies (as of May 2022) -
Year of release: 2022
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Nintendo’s games aren’t backing down in this race as the premiere AAA title, pokemon, also breaks its own records with Pokemon legends: Arceus. According to Statista, a whopping 12.64 million copies of the game have been sold, and that was in May 2022.
What’s impressive is that the game wasn’t released until January 2022 and already surpassed some of the older games in the span of four months. What’s even more impressive is that it’s only available for the Nintendo Switch. So you can imagine those Switch sales are off the charts too thanks to pokemon.
4 Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
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Reported sales:
$1 billion in revenue (as of February 2022) -
Year of release: 2020
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Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows
It seems people are showing no signs of fatigue for the Assassin Brotherhood and their eternal war with the Templars. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla turned out to be the second most successful (and most profitable) Ubisoft title of all time. In February 2022, Ubisoft claimed that: Walhalla had brought them $1 billion in revenue.
It will probably get higher as they keep adding new DLCs and content. It is also not clear which part of this sales figure consists of microtransactions. regardless, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the most profitableAssassin’s Creed game so far. What probably helped a lot was the Viking theme and setting, as well as the added price of the DLCs, some of which cost as much as $40.
3 Elden Ring
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Reported sales:
16.6 million -
Year of release: 2022
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Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Elden Ring still going strong and despite not releasing until February 2022, it has already surpassed some of the bigger and more established AAA titles. With 16.6 million copies sold, the game is on track to become one of the best-selling video games not only in this decade, but in the annals of the video game industry.
You should also keep in mind that it hasn’t even released its DLCs yet. And judging by the developer’s track record for DLCs, there could be more than one. At that point, Elden Ring’s turnover and revenue will only continue to grow. Many players are now being indoctrinated into the souls genre, with Elden Ring‘s relentless difficulty is one of its selling points rather than a drawback.
2 Cyberpunk 2077
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Reported sales:
18 million (as of 2021) -
Year of release: 2020
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Platforms: PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Despite the rather disastrous last-generation console release, Cyberpunk 2077 remains a behemoth in the video game industry. The game probably owes its overwhelming sales to massive marketing and the developer’s previously legendary status in the gaming community. Combined sales for 2020 and 2021 are 18 million units sold.
These figures are apparently estimates from CD Projekt. Also, the numbers could be higher now, especially after update 1.5, which fixed many of the game’s technical issues. These numbers could very well rise again if and when CD Projekt RED decides to release DLCs or expansions.
1 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
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Reported sales:
39.3 million (as of June 2022) -
Year of release: 2020
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Platforms: Nintendo Switch
You would think that being a Nintendo Switch exclusive would affect sales, but looking at the numbers, the opposite seems to be happening. Animal Crossing fans consumed wildly Animal Crossing: New Horizons on an exclusive buffet table called the Nintendo Switch.
As of June 2022, it’s approaching nearly 40 million copies sold, presumably with each copy at full price or close to it, as Switch price discounts are quite scarce for relatively recent titles. Anyway, that didn’t stop players from getting their hands on both a Switch and the game.
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