FIFA 22, Fortnite, and Beat Saber top PlayStation Store's download charts of 2021

2021 might not have been a banner year for video games (although it was certainly no slouch), but video games there were, and many were sold. To celebrate that fact, Sony has now offered up its own list of last year's most popular games, as per the greatest number of downloads on its PlayStation Store - and of no huge surprise, FIFA 22 is at number one here in Europe.

Sony's official list is actually four lists spanning four different categories - the top paid PlayStation 5, PS4, and PSVR games, plus the biggest free-to-play games - and those are separated out again across two different territories: Europe and the US/Canada.

FIFA 22 (which Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole called "morally bankrupt" in his review) successfully reached the top spot in both PS4 and PS5 categories as far as Europe was concerned, while NBA 2K22 secured pole position on PS5 in the US/Canada, and the unstoppable juggernaut that is GTAV did the same on PS4.

FIFA 22 Ultimate Team | Official Trailer

Enough people bought Call of Duty: Vanguard on PS5, meanwhile, to bring it to second place in both territories, and a similar feat was achieved by Battlefield 2042 at number 5. From there, however, the list begin to diverge fairly significantly in terms of placement if not titles present. Pleasingly, though, while the US/Canada list for PS5 is dominated by triple-A titles, a handful of slightly more leftfield additions - namely Innersloth's Among Us, Ember Lab's Kena: Bridge of Spirit, and Hazelight Studios' It Takes Two - all made the European Top 10.

Over in the free-to-play category, Sony has opted to combine the PlayStation Store's top downloads across PS4 and PS5, and absolutely no-one will likely be surprised to learn that Fortnite managed to place number one in both the EU and US/Canada. The rest of the list is equally predictable, featuring the likes of Call of Duty: Warzone, Rocket League, Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and Destiny 2, but notable additions include multiplayer portal shooter Splitgate and, in Europe at least, a number four placing for the much-maligned eFootball 2022.

As for PSVR, the usual suspects all take the top spots across both territories - the ever-sublime Beat Saber at number one, Job Simulator at two, and Superhot VR at three - with the likes of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and Gorn peppered elsewhere around the top ten. The complete lists, for easier comparative digestion, can be found below.

Top PS5 games:

Top PS4 games:

Top PSVR games:

Top PS5 and PS4 free-to-play games: