To say that Elden Ring has had a good year would be a massive understatement. It became one of the best-selling games of all time in the United States after only four months on the market, and it was the top-selling title of 2022 throughout the year in the same region — until today. Just as the Elden Lords eventually fell from their thrones, Elden Ring has lost its number one spot.
As of Friday, December 9, the NPD Group’s best-selling games list for overall 2022 now has Elden Ring at number two. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 overtook it, having launched right at the end of October. This also propelled it to the top of the November best-sellers list. Elden Ring wasn’t on the November list at all, but that just proves how well it sold up to this point, since it only fell by one position. Other games like God of War Ragnarok and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet made the November list as well as the 2022 list, though neither of those should be particularly surprising.
It’s hard to imagine that anyone at FromSoftware is actually mourning the dip in Elden Ring’s best-seller ranking, though. The blockbuster title won big at The Game Awards the night before the chart was updated. Elden Ring took Game of the Year, the most coveted award of the whole show. It also won in three other categories: Best RPG, Best Art Direction, and Best Game Direction. While accepting the various awards, director Hidetaka Miyazaki took a moment to say that he wants to create an even greater product next time. This comes after he previously said he won’t change the way FromSoftware games are made, in terms of mechanics and difficulty.
We’re already privy to at least one of FromSoftware’s next titles. Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is the next game in the long-running mech franchise, coming sometime in 2023.
