With an estimated value of $180.1 billion, the video game industry is not one to overlook. New games are constantly being released with genres such as sports games, platformers, racing games, role-playing games, sandbox games, puzzle games, and more. Now as 2021 is over, what were the top ten selling games of 2021 (as of November)?

Far Cry 6

Far Cry 6 is the newest game in the series. The in-game events happen after Far Cry 5. Far Cry 6 can be played on these platforms: Amazon Luna, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game has received many mixed reviews, yet some of the changes from the predecessor are praised, some criticize the lack of changes. 

Far Cry 6 is a first-person action-adventure shooter game set in an open-world setting. The game was considered to be the largest Far Cry playground to date. 

The main character, named Dani, leads a war effort against the Castillos, which are the main antagonists in the game. With 22 hours of gameplay, there are many options for the player to go about this game.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Spider-Man, one of Marvel Studio’s most popular superheroes has not only had many movies made about him, but countless videogames have been about him as well. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes after the film spin-off, Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, following the journey of Miles Morales. 

Miles follows the past steps of his mentor Peter Parker (the main character in Marvel’s Spider-man), who was the previous Spider-Man. Miles, to protect New York, attempts to become the next Spider-Man. The game is an action open-world game continuing off the previous Spider-Man game, but adding more plot and features to allow the game to be fun and fresh from what it was previously.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl came out in 2006, and after 15 years, Nintendo released an HD remaster called Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. 

The game follows your player traveling across the Sinnoh region, a place known for its famous Mount Coronet. You catch Pokémon and battle with them to collect eight gym badges to participate in the Pokémon League. However, there is a force trying to stop the player from progressing, and as well as the goal to become the Pokémon champion, the player also has to save the world from destruction. 

Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl are the first main-series Pokémon games that were not developed by ILCA. The game sold really well having sold six million copies in the first week and managed to get into the top eight slot for the best selling games of the year. 

Senior Luis Delagado remarked on his thoughts of the game compared to its predecessors. 

“This game is much more enjoyable to play with your friends and has some of the nicest music in the series,” Delgado said. “The art style for the game is questionable, as pointed out by many people, but is much better than what has come out in the previous years. The game, along with the rest of the series, is pretty good, and a great way to spend your time casually.”

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

The port of the second most popular Wii U game to the switch adds on to this already high-selling game. In Super Mario 3D World, Mario and his friends go on a journey to save kidnapped fairies from Bowser and his minions. This journey is traversed as a 3D platformer, which works well with both single-player as well as multiplayer. 

Although the game is an enhanced version of the Wii U game, there is something for the new players, a unique and innovative game mode, Bowser’s Fury. The mode had new concepts, combining the world of Super Mario 3D world with the gameplay of Super Mario Odyssey to create a new game mode. 

Senior Owen Bartel explained the game from his perspective.

“While 3D world’s more like the 2D Marios, but in 3D, Bowser’s Fury is sorta more like the 3D Marios where you run around getting collectibles,” Bartel said. “It’s sorta like [Mario] Odyssey.”

In this mode, Mario alongside Bowser Jr. (Bowser’s son) both go together to try and save Bowser from possessive black sludge by collecting cat shines. Nevertheless, whether the game is played alone, or with friends, the game is considered a joy to play.

Battlefield 2042

Battlefield 2042 is an FPS (First Person Shooter) focused mainly on multiplayer. Being set in the future, the game attempts to have a representation of what combat would be like then. The game sold about 4.23 million units in the first week. 

After the game’s release, however, the game had thousands of negative reviews towards the game calling out the bugs and downsides to the game. After the initial launch, the game went from more than 100k active players to a peak of only 40k. Despite this, the developers of the game still put out updates and have already sold many units to the public. Causing it to become the 6th top selling game of 2021.

Resident Evil: Village

Resident Evil: Village is a survival horror game focusing on the player character, Ethan, trying to save his kidnapped daughter, Rosemary.  Taking place in the Victorian era, through a first-person perspective, Ethan is put into a village filled with mutant monsters. The player must use surrounding items to defeat monsters and bosses all around, find flasks to save Rosemary while having an action-packed adventure at the same time. 

The game has received high reviews and won awards such as the Ultimate Game of the Year from the Golden Joystick Awards 2021. With many platforms including Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S to play on this game has come to be ranked number four top-selling game of 2021.

MLB: The Show 21

MLB (Major League Baseball) has been around since 1876 and has its video game series of MLB: The Show. MLB: The Show 21 is their 2021 version based around pro players in the MLB. This version of the game has an Xbox release to it for the first time raising its sales. 

Being able to play multiplayer, this game can be played with one’s friends as well as playing alone. In April, it was the top-selling game digitally for Xbox and PlayStation, so no wonder it’s on the top four of the year overall.

Senior Jason Gardner tells his experience with the game.

“I really liked the game because I think every sport should have its own game,” Gardner said. “As someone who really likes sports, I really liked the game.”

Madden NFL 22

Despite EA (Electronic Arts), the game developers responsible for many popular games such as battlefield and the Madden series, making minimal changes to the Madden NFL series and very heavy critics giving the game bad reviews, Madden NFL 22 remains on the top 10 selling games of 2021. Madden NFL 22 is a game based on American Football with players from the NFL (National Football League). 

The game was released on many platforms including the Microsoft Windows computer platform, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Stadia. The game was at the top spot in August but has dropped down.

 Call of Duty: Vanguard

Being the 18th in the mainline Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Vanguard is an FPS (First Person Shooter) being able to be played single-player or multiplayer. There are three main game modes: Campaign, Multiplayer/Warzone, and Zombies. 

The main campaign takes place during multiple points in World War II in non-chronological order. The multiplayer/warzone game mode is a battle zone for someone to play with or against friends as well as other people. The zombies mode is a prologue to Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War where the player and allies defeat zombies. 

The reviews have been mixed. Most praise the campaign and the multiplayer but criticize the zombies game mode. However, in the end, the game still has sold quite a bit in order to get to the number two spot on the list.

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War returns from 2020’s top spot, to become the number one spot of 2021. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War is an FPS (First Person Shooter) game becoming the 24th game in the Call of Duty series.                                                  

The game takes place in the early Cold War, which is when the United States and their allies were in tension and conflict against the Soviet Union and their allies, but not directly. The game has a single-player campaign but also has many multiplayer options to play with or against one’s friends.

The games on 2021’s list vary quite a bit from 2020’s list of top-selling games. From 2021 on, one can only wonder how the list will change and all of the new games that will show up in the future. Who knows what will happen next for the gaming industry and what it will become in the next few years.