FIFA 22, Fortnite, and Beat Saber top PlayStation Store's download charts of 2021
With NBA 2K22 and GTAV up top over the pond.
2021 might not have been a banner year for video games (although it was certainly no slouch), but video games there were, and many were sold. To celebrate that fact, Sony has now offered up its own list of last year's most popular games, as per the greatest number of downloads on its PlayStation Store - and of no huge surprise, FIFA 22 is at number one here in Europe.
Sony's official list is actually four lists spanning four different categories - the top paid PlayStation 5, PS4, and PSVR games, plus the biggest free-to-play games - and those are separated out again across two different territories: Europe and the US/Canada.
FIFA 22 (which Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole called "morally bankrupt" in his review) successfully reached the top spot in both PS4 and PS5 categories as far as Europe was concerned, while NBA 2K22 secured pole position on PS5 in the US/Canada, and the unstoppable juggernaut that is GTAV did the same on PS4.
Enough people bought Call of Duty: Vanguard on PS5, meanwhile, to bring it to second place in both territories, and a similar feat was achieved by Battlefield 2042 at number 5. From there, however, the list begin to diverge fairly significantly in terms of placement if not titles present. Pleasingly, though, while the US/Canada list for PS5 is dominated by triple-A titles, a handful of slightly more leftfield additions - namely Innersloth's Among Us, Ember Lab's Kena: Bridge of Spirit, and Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two - all made the European Top 10.
Over in the free-to-play category, Sony has opted to combine the PlayStation Store's top downloads across PS4 and PS5, and absolutely no-one will likely be surprised to learn that Fortnite managed to place number one in both the EU and US/Canada. The rest of the list is equally predictable, featuring the likes of Call of Duty: Warzone, Rocket League, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Destiny 2, but notable additions include multiplayer portal shooter Splitgate and, in Europe at least, a number four placing for the much-maligned eFootball 2022.
As for PSVR, the usual suspects all take the top spots across both territories - the ever-sublime Beat Saber at number one, Job Simulator at two, and Superhot VR at three - with the likes of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Gorn peppered elsewhere around the top ten. The complete lists, for easier comparative digestion, can be found below.
Top PS5 games:
| No. | US/Canada | EU |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NBA 2K22 | FIFA 22 |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Call of Duty: Vanguard |
| 3 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales | FIFA 21 |
| 4 | Madden NFL 22 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales |
| 5 | Battlefield 2042 | Battlefield 2042 |
| 6 | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | Among Us |
| 7 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Kena: Bridge of Spirits |
| 8 | MLB The Show 21 | FAR CRY 6 |
| 9 | Resident Evil Village | It Takes Two |
| 10 | Far Cry 6 | Assassin's Creed Valhalla |
| 11 | Assassin's Creed Valhalla | F1 2021 |
| 12 | FIFA 22 | Resident Evil Village |
| 13 | Among Us | NBA 2K22 |
| 14 | Mortal Kombat 11 | Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart |
| 15 | NBA 2K21 Next Generation | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War |
| 16 | It Takes Two | TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE |
| 17 | FIFA 21 | Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition |
| 18 | DEATHLOOP | Diablo II: Resurrected |
| 19 | Returnal | DEATHLOOP |
| 20 | Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Mortal Kombat 11 |
Top PS4 games:
| No. | US/Canada | EU |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Theft Auto V | FIFA 22 |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Grand Theft Auto V |
| 3 | Minecraft | Minecraft |
| 4 | NBA 2K22 | FIFA 21 |
| 5 | Call of Duty: Vanguard | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War |
| 6 | Madden NFL 22 | The Crew 2 |
| 7 | NBA 2K21 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
| 8 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition |
| 9 | MLB The Show 21 | Call of Duty: Vanguard |
| 10 | Mortal Kombat 11 | The Forest |
| 11 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout |
| 12 | Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Gran Turismo Sport |
| 13 | FIFA 22 | ARK: Survival Evolved |
| 14 | THE FOREST | Need for Speed Heat |
| 15 | Need for Speed Heat | NBA 2K21 |
| 16 | UFC 4 | Gang Beasts |
| 17 | ARK: Survival Evolved | TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX | SIEGE |
| 18 | Gang Beasts | eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE |
| 19 | Rust Console Edition | Among Us |
| 20 | NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER | Assassin's Creed Valhalla |
Top PSVR games:
| No. | US/Canada | EU |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beat Saber | Beat Saber |
| 2 | Job Simulator | Job Simulator |
| 3 | SUPERHOT VR | SUPERHOT VR |
| 4 | GORN | Creed: Rise to Glory |
| 5 | Swordsman VR | Swordsman VR |
| 6 | Creed Rise to Glory | The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners |
| 7 | Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series | GORN |
| 8 | The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners | RICK AND MORTY: VIRTUAL RICK-ALITY |
| 9 | Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality | Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series |
| 10 | The Walking Dead Onslaught | ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission |
Top PS5 and PS4 free-to-play games:
| No. | US/Canada | EU |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fortnite | Fortnite |
| 2 | Call of Duty: Warzone | Rocket League |
| 3 | Rocket League | Call of Duty: Warzone |
| 4 | Splitgate | eFootball 2022 |
| 5 | Apex Legends | Genshin Impact |
| 6 | Genshin Impact | Apex Legends |
| 7 | Destiny 2 | eFootball PES 2021 LITE |
| 8 | Rec Room | Brawlhalla |
| 9 | Brawlhalla | Destiny 2 |
| 10 | Rogue Company | Splitgate |