To the surprise of nobody, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga proved to be one of the best-selling games of 2022.
Six years after the last installment in the franchise, LEGO Star Wars returned to consoles and PC last year with The Skywalker Saga, delivering a level-by-level adaptation of the nine-film Skywalker Saga. This was far from the first time a blockbuster franchise has been LEGOfied in gaming form, but this one brought some changes.
On top of being by far the biggest LEGO game ever with 384 characters to unlock, 24 planets to explore, and 45 levels to enjoy, The Skywalker Saga reinvited the usual franchise formula with all-new third-person-shooter-inspired gameplay.
Naturally, the fresh gameplay combined with the long-awaited next batch of LEGO Star Wars content made The Skywalker Saga one of the most-anticipated releases of last year, especially after the many delays. And now, new data revealed just how well all that waiting and excitement really paid off.
How Well Did LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Perform?
Recent data from NPD revealed the Top 10 highest-selling video games, including both retail and digital sales, from 2022. The chart, which is led by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, places LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga in fifth position, lagging just behind the acclaimed God of War: Ragnarok.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
- Elden Ring
- Madden NFL 23
- God of War Ragnarok
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
- FIFA 23
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- MLB: The Show 22
The listing follows previous data from NPD - via Brick Fanatics - which revealed that the Star Wars adventure was the highest-selling game in its release month of April 2022, beating out the previously-released Elden Ring and the freshly-dropped Nintendo Switch Sports.
At the time when Brick Fanatics' report was published on May 15, 2022, The Skywalker Saga also stood as the second best-selling game of the year, lagging just behind FromSoftware's Elden Ring.
These sales all combined to make the latest LEGO Star Wars outing the biggest global launch for a LEGO game in the 28-year history of the franchise.
LEGO Star Wars Wins Big In 2022
Going toe-to-toe with gaming mainstays like Call of Duty and Pokemon, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was clearly a huge hit for gamers. Clearly, the changes made to the traditional LEGO formula resonated better with general audiences, as can be seen by its place as the fastest-selling in the franchise.
The success of The Skywalker Saga will not only likely mean more LEGO Star Wars games are bound to arrive eventually - perhaps exploring Disney+'s Mandoverse - but also that future titles in the brick-based franchise will implement many of these new gameplay twists.
One familiar gaming trend clearly continued with 2022's best sellers in that the latest annual Call of Duty release led the charts once again. This has proven to be the case almost every year since 2009's Modern Warfare 2, with the only exceptions coming from the years in which Rockstar dropped a blockbuster title.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.