Top 20 best-selling games of 2021 (Articles)

Industry-tracking firm The NPD Group has revealed the top 20 best-selling games in the United States for 2021. And this list looks a lot like last year’s. If you were guessing Call of Duty came out on top, you are right twice over. NPD only includes games it actively tracks, so don’t expect to see something like Valheim on here. Take a look at the chart, and then scroll down to see the top 20 best-selling games for each platform.

Rank	2021 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital from the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation, STEAM and Xbox platforms for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales	Publisher
1	Call of Duty: Vanguard	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
2	Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
3	Madden NFL 22	Electronic Arts
4	Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl*	Nintendo
5	Battlefield 2042	Electronic Arts
6	Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales	Sony (Corp)
7	Mario Kart 8*	Nintendo
8	Resident Evil: Village	Capcom USA
9	MLB: The Show 21^	Sony (Corp)
10	Super Mario 3D World*	Nintendo
11	Far Cry 6	Ubisoft
12	FIFA 22	Electronic Arts
13	Minecraft	Multiple Video Game Manufacturers
14	Animal Crossing: New Horizons*	Nintendo
15	NBA 2K22*	Take-Two Interactive
16	Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla	Ubisoft
17	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*	Nintendo
18	Back 4 Blood	Warner Bros. Interactive
19	Mortal Kombat 11	Warner Bros. Interactive
20	Forza Horizon 5	Microsoft (Corp)
	* Digital sales not included
	^ Xbox Digital sales not included

Call of Duty’s momentum is undeniable even after 13 years of topping the charts in the United States. Other franchises, like Pokémon, Madden, and NBA 2K, follow a similar pattern, and they are also on the list. Pokémon had an especially good year thanks to the success of multiple games.

“The 2021 dollar sales of Pokémon franchise’s physical software reached its highest annual total since the year 2000,” NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said.

One thing that is happening with Pokémon is that sales begin to stack up over time. While millions of people show up to purchase a new release in the series, many people are still returning to Switch Pokémon games that debuted in previous years. Resident Evil is experiencing this same trend, and it led to a new record for Capcom’s horror series.

“Resident Evil: Village finished 2021 as the year’s No. 8 best-selling game,” said Piscatella. “Resident Evil franchise dollar sales reached a new all-time annual high for the U.S. market.”

MLB The Show 21, meanwhile, set a record by debuting on Xbox for the first time. It was able to outsell its predecessors even though NPD does not track digital MLB sales on Microsoft’s hardware.

Of course, the most notable aspect of the top 20 is its familiarity.

“Seven of the top 20 best-selling games of 2021 also ranked among the top 20 best-sellers of 2020,” said Piscatella. “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Super Smash Bros Ultimate and Mortal Kombat 11 all appeared on both the 2021 as well as 2020 best-selling titles charts. Mortal Kombat 11, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, and Mario Kart 8 also appeared on the 2019 top 20 best-sellers chart.”

Gaming has changed from a medium where games age out quickly to one where a five-year-old Mario Kart game can outsell the newest smash-hit Resident Evil game.

Let’s do the platform charts.

Nintendo

Rank	2021 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales	Publisher
1	Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl*	Nintendo
2	Mario Kart 8*	Nintendo
3	Super Mario 3D World*	Nintendo
4	Animal Crossing: New Horizons*	Nintendo
5	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate*	Nintendo
6	Monster Hunter: Rise	Capcom USA
7	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*	Nintendo
8	Mario Party Superstars*	Nintendo
9	Pokemon: Sword/Shield*	Nintendo
10	The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword*	Nintendo
11	Metroid: Dread*	Nintendo
12	New Super Mario Bros.*	Nintendo
13	New Pokemon Snap*	Nintendo
14	Minecraft*	Nintendo
15	Super Mario 3D All-Stars*	Nintendo
16	Super Mario Party*	Nintendo
17	Super Mario Odyssey*	Nintendo
18	Ring Fit Adventure	Nintendo
19	Mario Golf: Super Rush*	Nintendo
20	Luigi’s Mansion 3*	Nintendo
	* Digital sales not included

PlayStation

Rank	2021 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales	Publisher
1	Call of Duty: Vanguard	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
2	Madden NFL 22	Electronic Arts
3	Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
4	Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales	Sony (Corp)
5	MLB: The Show 21	Sony (Corp)
6	Battlefield 2042	Electronic Arts
7	FIFA 22	Electronic Arts
8	Ghost of Tsushima	Sony (Corp)
9	Resident Evil: Village	Capcom USA
10	Far Cry 6	Ubisoft
11	Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart	Sony (Corp)
12	NBA 2K22*	Take-Two Interactive
13	Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla	Ubisoft
14	Minecraft	Microsoft (Corp)
15	Back 4 Blood	Warner Bros. Interactive
16	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
17	Mortal Kombat 11	Warner Bros. Interactive
18	Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy	Square Enix Inc (Corp)
19	Mass Effect: Legendary Edition	Electronic Arts
20	Madden NFL 21	Electronic Arts
	* Digital sales not included

Xbox

Rank	2021 Top 20 Games (Physical and Full Game Digital for publishers in the Digital Leader Panel) ranked on dollar sales	Publisher
1	Call of Duty: Vanguard	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
2	Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
3	Madden NFL 22	Electronic Arts
4	Battlefield 2042	Electronic Arts
5	Far Cry 6	Ubisoft
6	Forza Horizon 5	Microsoft (Corp)
7	Halo: Infinite	Microsoft (Corp)
8	Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla	Ubisoft
9	FIFA 22	Electronic Arts
10	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)	Activision Blizzard (Corp)
11	Resident Evil: Village	Capcom USA
12	Mass Effect: Legendary Edition	Electronic Arts
13	NBA 2K22*	Take-Two Interactive
14	Mortal Kombat 11	Warner Bros. Interactive
15	Forza Horizon 4	Microsoft (Corp)
16	Madden NFL 21	Electronic Arts
17	Back 4 Blood	Warner Bros. Interactive
18	MLB: The Show 21*	Sony (Corp)
19	Minecraft	Microsoft (Corp)
20	It Takes Two	Electronic Arts
	* Digital sales not included

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