Apparently,single player gamesare dead or undesirable according to one of the biggest video game companies in existence. It’s the one that keeps releasing the same game too often. Basketball andsoccer games, by the way; not assassin or war junkie simulators. Thankfully, that sentiment is just a joke and not exactly true; otherwise, the biggest single-player games past 2018 wouldn’t have been financial powerhouses.
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Also, a lot of these games, despite not having the multiplayer focus ofBattlefield,orFIFA,are household titles or even dinner table topics. And if word-of-mouth isn’t enough to convince fans that these video games aren’t part of a ‘dying’ gameplay mode, then numbers ought to speak for themselves. These single player games ofthe past three yearsare very much alive and kicking.
8Elden Ring
During its first month alone,Elden Ringhad already sold more than 13 million copies. Throughout the first half of 2022, it continued shooting to the top of the sales charts and has evenmade a comebackafter slowing down a bit. While the game technically has multiplayer via co-op and invasions, it’s largely asingle-player experience.
In fact, its co-op and invasion mechanics can be janky and easily purged using some single-player mechanics. In any case,Elden Ring’s existenceand success not only can prove that people still like single-player games, but they also aren’t tired ofSoulsbornegames just yet.
7Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
There are many ways a cocktail of hooded assassins, vikings, and the most common RPG mechanics could have turned out sour, but one has to give credit toAssassin’s Creed Valhalla. It not only made Ubisoft a lot wealthier, but it also served as the highest point for the franchise.
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Vikings were probably the best-selling point here. Ubisoft doesn’t seem to have publicly disclosed the actual number of copies sold, but during its first week, the game already had nearly 2 million players. That could mean the first month of sales of the game were probably enough to recuperate its overall budget. Because come 2022,Assassin’s Creed Valhallawas already Ubisoft’s 2nd most profitable title with a revenue of $1 billion. It’s not clear how much of this revenue was from microtransactions or actual video game copies sold.
6Cyberpunk 2077
Despite being one of the worst and most notorious video game launches in the industry’s history,Cyberpunk 2077is no doubt impactful. In 2020, back in its launch year, it sold 13.7 million copies. In the following year, it sold 4.3 million more. Onlyaround 33,000+of those were refunded, but those figures are still impressive considering Sony pulled the game out of the PlayStation Store for a time.
Now, with huge fixes and updates such as patch 1.5, the game remains one of the most popular titles today. With the game becoming more playable and polished, it’s fair to assume that it will sell more, especially once the DLCs are out. Regardless, this exclusively single-player RPG has made history both in sales and reputation.
5The Last Of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part 2could have sold less and still have a good excuse because it’s a PlayStation-exclusive, but it exceeded expectations and then some. As of spring 2022, Naughty Dog— the game’s developer studio, has confirmed 10 million copies sold (and probably counting).
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It’s also worth noting thatThe Last of Us Part 2also has the same framework asGod of War(2018). Both games are linear action-adventures that are mostly story-driven. For reference,God of Waralso sold extremely well and has around double the sales ofThe Last of Us Part 2.If anything, Sony’s single-player exclusives keep rivallingFIFAsales numbers; although, it’s also worth mentioning that those sports games come out every year.
4Ghost Of Tsushima
Yet another Sony PlayStation exclusive,Ghost of Tsushimais one of the breakout video games of 2020. Its sales figures are quite close toThe Last of Us Part 2,though the game might owe a chunk of its sales to the PS5 re-release.
Even so,Ghost of Tsushima’s stylisticstory-tellingas well as its interesting cast of characters contributed much to the sales and mostly positive reception. The game does have casual multiplayer, but it was primarily released as a single-player title; much of its core gameplay focuses on single-player stories and missions.
3Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Dying Light 2: Stay Humanmight have only sold 5 million copies (which looks small compared to the others on this list), but it was just released in February 2022. It still has a long road of profits ahead of it. And if Techland is expected to treat the sequel the same way asDying Light(attentive DLCs, and frequent updates), thenDying Light 2: Stay Humanwill inevitably have even more sales.
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And they might; during its first month alone, the game had already sold 5 million copies. 3 million of those purchases came from as early as the first week. LikeGhost of TsushimaandElden Ring,Dying Light 2: Stay Humanalso has a casual multiplayer component via co-op, but it’s definitely not as polished or as in-depth as thesingle-player experience. The game focuses on the latter.
2Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil Villagemight be the new kid in town, butResident Evil 2is looking more popular, especially when it comes to sales. The legendary remake has already achieved financially more than its original 1998 counterpart.
As of December last year,Resident Evil 2was reported in at 9.3 million copies. At the moment, it seems the game currently stands at 9.6 million units or copies sold, which is impressive as it’s asingle player horrorgame. It’s not clear whetherResident Evil Villagewill reach those numbers or not, but whichever the case is a win-win for Capcom.
1Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
EA, the same publisherthrowing shade at single player games, was happy enough to present players with a single player game calledStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderback in 2019. EA was even happier when this single player game exceeded expectations, because two years ago (2020), it was already pushing past 10 million units or copies sold.
The numbers could be even bigger now, especially with an impending 2022 release date forStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2. A year ago, July 2021, the latest report forJedi Fallen Orderwas that it had 20 million total players. That doesn’t mean 20 million units sold, but most likely somewhere near that ballpark. WithEA’s current jabat single player games, they might just ‘roast’ themselves again comeJedi Fallen Order 2.
