The 20 best-selling games of September have been revealed, ending a significant dry spell within the gaming industry for the year 2022. With six of September's releases going on to become part of the top 20 bestselling games so far this year, the new FIFA 2023 has ultimately taken the lead.
2022 has been an interesting year in the gaming industry, with the year starting off with a bang thanks to record-breaking releases like Elden Ring, Amazon Games' Lost Ark, and the long-awaited Horizon: Forbidden West which attracted droves of gamers while continuing to maintain strong player bases later in the year. These would be followed up by some noteworthy licensed titles such as the well-regarded Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and the massively hyped LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, although the months between March and September were surprisingly quiet other than those previously mentioned titles and a few others.
September 2022 marked a significant uptick in release activity thanks to six major releases which have taken their place among the year's US best sellers according to data from The NPD Group. Two of September's top sellers are the annual sports game FIFA 23 and the basketball game NBA 2K23, both of which reliably muster up solid sales numbers year after year thanks to the lucrative sports market. Splatoon 3's successful release brought the family-friendly ink shooter into the list, along with the highly anticipated remake The Last of Us Part 1, the nostalgic TMNT Cowabunga Collection, and anime fighter Jojo's Bizarre Aventure: All-Star Battle.
The other 14 titles selling the most copies in September are an even spread of 2022 releases and several hits from past years. Minecraft is the top-selling game of all time, for example, and can reasonably be expected to end up in every month's best-sellers list for the foreseeable future. This year's big releases like Elden Ring, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Saints Row 2022, and Madden NFL 23 have continued to succeed months after release, while several titles from the past few years are still holding their own such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
September 2022 US Best-Selling Games
- FIFA 23
- Madden NFL 23
- NBA 2K23
- Splatoon 3
- The Last of Us: Part I
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection
- Saints Row (2022)
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle
- Elden Ring
- Mario Kart 8
- Minecraft
- Marvel's Spider-Man
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
- Horizon 2: Forbidden West
- Call of Duty: Vanguard
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- MLB: The Show 22
- Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
On the hardware front, PS5 sales have been improving due to the bump in supply, with PS5 beating out the Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch in sales. The gaming industry is understandably picking up the pace leading into the critical holiday season, with game announcements for November 2022 showing a lot of promise.
Source: IGN