Although many people find the concept of video games about sports to be strange, they continue to dominate the sales charts, and 2021 is no different. Last year, PlayStation‘s top 20 most downloaded games chart was filled with various sports EAFC 24 Coins games, as is the case every year. With the global pandemic forcing many people to remain indoors and disrupting many sporting tournaments, some people have turned to video games to get their sporting fix.

On the PS5. sports games dominate in the USA and Canada. NBA 2K22 takes the top spot, and Madden NFL 22 takes fourth place. MLB The Show 21 appears in eighth place, FC 24 shows up in twelfth place, NBA 2k21 takes fifteenth place, and FIFA 22 slides into seventeenth place. That means sports games take up 30% of the top 20 chart. The European chart is similarly crowded with sports games, although instead of NBA 2K22 taking the top spot, FC 24 does. Other sports games that appear on the list include FIFA 22. F1 2021. and NBA 2K22.

The PS4 charts paint a similar story. In the USA and Canada, a sports game does not take the top spot (that honor goes to Grand Theft Auto 5). However, plenty of sports games still appear. NBA 2K22 is the fourth most downloaded PS4 game of 2021. and Madden NFL 22 is the sixth most downloaded game. NBA 2K21 appears at seventh place, MLB The Show 21 takes ninth place, FC 24 takes thirteenth place, and UFC 4 is at sixteenth place. The European chart is also flooded with sports games, and FC 24 is in the number one spot. FIFA 22. NBA 2K21. and eFootball PES 2021 also make an appearance.

The success of these sports games should not be looked down upon, as they go up against highly popular games such as Minecraft, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Resident Evil Village, and more. This suggests that players buy sports games in droves, and while some may not understand the appeal of the genre, there are plenty more who do.

Although sports games are enjoying a fruitful present, not all their FC 24 Ultimate Teamures look equally bright. The FIFA series developed by EA is popular in part thanks to its use of the FIFA brand. However, in 2021. the football association FIFA asked for $1 billion for every four years the license is used. In response, EA released a public statement outlining the fact that the company is “exploring the idea of renaming our global EA SPORTS football games.” Although the license has been extended until the end of 2022. there is no telling how long the partnership will continue.

eFootball PES has been rebranded as eFootball and is now a free-to-play EA Sports FC Coins game. Unfortunately, the first game from the series, eFootball 2022. was universally panned by critics and gamers alike. Most of the criticisms were geared towards the games‘ poor graphics and numerous glitches. Only time will tell whether Konami will be able to rehabilitate the reputation of the series.