As we continue to move into a more digital age, video games are following suit with more people purchasing their games through online stores. With consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S offering a digital-only version of the leading consoles, it’s pretty clear where the future of gaming is heading. While physical copies aren’t going way, more and more are making the shift to buying most of their games from digital stores.
As a result of so many more people buying their games through digital stores, it creates a little bit of fun trivia on what games we’re seeing pop up the most on places like the PlayStation Store. Luckily, for those of us that are interested in this kind of thing, PlayStation recently put out a blog post with the PlayStation Store’s highest-selling games of 2021. While we don’t want to assume too much based on these rankings, it looks like the scenario where everyone buys all their games through digital means isn’t quite there yet.
One thing that is very apparent is that right now the majority of people using the PlayStation Store for original releases are doing so with their PlayStation 5. Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Resident Evil Village, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart all make Top 10 appearances for the PlayStation 5 in the United States and you can add on Kena: Bridge of Spirits in Europe. However, all of those games failed to surpass Call of Duty: Vanguard which rode in at the No. 2 spot for the PlayStation 5 in both regions. What was the top game you may be wondering? In the United States that would be NBA 2K22 and in FIFA 22 in Europe.
Over on the PlayStation 4, we saw Grand Theft Auto V continue its dominance as the highest-selling game in the United States with FIFA 22 once again taking the top spot in Europe. We also saw some older releases start to appear near the top of the PlayStation 4 rankings with games like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Minecraft, and NBA 2K21 all making high appearances for the previous generation console.
If there was one thing this list made clear it’s that people still really love Call of Duty and sports games. While it was cool to see more artistic and/or story-driven games high on the PlayStation 5 list we are fully well aware of the popularity of franchises like NBA 2K, GTA, FIFA, and Call of Duty. Be sure to check out the full list for even more categories such as free-to-play and the PlayStation VR.