NPD predicts Elden Ring will be 2022’s best-selling US game ahead of Call of Duty

The NPD Group has tipped Elden Ring to end 2022 as the best-selling title in the US market.

NPD analyst Mat Piscatella made the prediction in a blog reflecting on games industry sales in the first half of the year and looking forward to the remaining six months of 2022.

“Elden Ring will finish as 2022’s best-selling premium game in the US market, marking only the 3rd time since 2009 that a Call of Duty franchise release does not lead the market,” he wrote.

Elden Ring released on February 25 and had shipped 13.4 million units worldwide as of March 31, according to publisher Bandai Namco.

In April, NPD said Elden Ring had overtaken Call of Duty Vanguard to become the best-selling game of the past 12 months in the US market.

Piscatella predicts this year’s top-selling games in the US will be (in alphabetical order): Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarök, Gotham Knights, Horizon: Forbidden West, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Madden NFL 23, NBA 2K23, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Pokémon Scarlet/Violet.

“Despite Elden Ring leading the individual title charts, Call of Duty will remain the US market’s best-selling premium gaming franchise for a record 14th consecutive year,” he forecast.

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On the hardware front, NPD expects Switch to lead console unit sales in 2022, “with dollar leadership a too-close-to-call race between Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series”.

Overall US consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories in 2022 is forecast to reach $55.5 billion, a decline of 8.7% compared to last year.