"Elden Ring" sales are booming in the US this year, which means that FromSoftware pressed all the right buttons when crafting their first open-world adventure.
According to GamesRadar, FromSoftware's newest open-world "Soulsborne" is the best-selling game of 2022 so far in the United States. It's also the best-selling title for February, as well as the fifth best-selling game of the past 12 months. This is based on the numbers shared by the research firm NPD Group, which often analyzes the game industry.
Here is a tweet from the NPD Group's Mat Piscatella, who regularly posts data on his Twitter account:
As you can see there, "Elden Ring" was able to top a lot of game industry juggernauts on their way to the pole position. It sold more copies than "Dying Light 2: Stay Human," "Monster Hunter Rise" (another Capcom bestseller), and even Sony's now-iconic "God Of War" which was recently released on PC to widespread acclaim. It even beat out "Minecraft."
"Elden Ring" topped another bestseller in Nintendo's "Pokemon Legends: Arceus," which was the Switch's fastest-selling "Pokemon" game to date with 6.5 million copies sold within a week (via CNET).
To round off the top five, you have Guerilla Games' "Horizon Forbidden West" at third place, "Call Of Duty Vanguard" at fourth, and "Madden NFL 22" at fifth place, respectively. However, NPD didn't provide exact sales numbers for all of the games in their top 20 overall list-just the placements.
In a report by TheGamer, it was also revealed that "Elden Ring" sales numbers were also enough to keep "Gran Turismo 7," this year's newest PlayStation exclusive after "Forbidden West," from reaching the top spot. What this means is that most PlayStation owners still wanted to visit The Lands Between instead of racing around on the world's most iconic tracks.
Read Also: Gamer Discovers Secret to 'Elden Ring': Don't Play It Like a Ubisoft Game
'Elden Ring's' Polarizing Popularity At A Glance
Before "Elden Ring," FromSoftware has never tried the open-world formula before-a genre that hasn't gotten much love over the years for seemingly repetitive gameplay mechanics and bad actors that keep milking it (i.e. Ubisoft).
However, many critics are praising FromSoft's latest title for apparently "fixing" what was wrong with open-world games to date. We're talking about maps full of icons and an almost never-ending to-do list, writes Inverse.
Opening the map in something like a Ubisoft game can make players feel a bit overwhelmed. It's because of all those icons littering the landscape, like an endless shopping list you need to complete. But in "Elden Ring," all of those map icons are mostly gone aside from marking Sites of Grace (the game's way of telling players where to go) and other buildings of note.
elden ring map screenshot
This is what mostly separates FromSoft's open-world romp from "Assassin's Creed" or "Far Cry." Many players are loving the sense of mystery that comes with the world of "Elden Ring," which keeps them on their toes. There's no telling what you can find when visiting a specific area on the map because there's literally no quest markers.
This might be one of the main reasons why in spite of the game's difficulty, gamers are still enamored by The Lands Between.
Related Article: Elden Ring Gains Popularity for Its Difficulty: 1st Major Boss Beaten By Only 55% of PC Players
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
