December is a time to reflect on the past year, to note accomplishments and to celebrate whatever you did that deserves celebrating. For Farming Simulator 22, that celebration will likely involve respectfully tea-bagging several triple-A games that it managed to outsell in Europe.
According to GamesIndustry.biz's Christopher Dring, who's busily tallying stats in preparation for the publication’s 2021 breakdown, Farming Simulator 22 outsold several big-name game releases in Europe this year, including The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Monster Hunter Rise, Forza Horizon 5, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Farming Simulator 22 has been smashing records for the franchise ever since releasing back in November. The game quickly rose to 1.5 million in sales in its first week, beating out Battlefield 2042 in terms of sales and peak player count on Steam. It also received far better reviews than Battlefield, too.
What does Farming Simulator's success say about Europeans? That they're less violent? More into chill, casual games about hooking up cows to suction devices? That they’d prefer to feed the world rather than destroy it? It’s hard to say.
What we can say for sure is that Europeans really love Farming Simulator. It’s gotten to the point where there’s even a Farming Simulator esports league where the best virtual farmers from across Europe all congregate to see who can harvest and bale hay the best. The latest tournament even had a €100,000 prize.
Other stats for 2021 are far less interesting. The Nintendo Switch once again dominated console sales across Europe, while It Takes Two was the continent's best new game release. FIFA 22, however, was still the number one selling game across every European territory for 2021.
We’ll find out more as everyone tabulates their numbers for the past year. As for us, you can check out our Game of the Year as chosen by our 17 editors in a round-robin deathmatch tournament that involved spreadsheets.