When we brought gamers the news last week that Battlefield 3 had been struggling to top even Call of Duty: Black Ops on the Xbox Live activity charts, we were a bit behind the curve. But now, with Major Nelson unveiling his Xbox Live charts for the week of November 21st, we are surprised by the placement for a new reason.
As expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is topping the charts, and sadly Black Ops is still going strong in the number two spot, but what is most impressive is the game that clocks in at number three.
What’s that game you ask? It’s none other than Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. That’s right, a wholly single player game, without any real sort of competitive multiplayer, is right up there with the multiplayer shooters of multiplayer shooters. That means that a ton of Skyrim players simply have Xbox Live active, but are not really using it whilst slaying dragons or perhaps collecting loot.
Unfortunately, at least if you were any of the EA staffers who thought that Battlefield 3 would give COD a run for its money, Battlefield 3 once again comes in under its competition, which now includes Skyrim. Granted Battlefield 3 is outperforming some newer multiplayer fare like Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, but it’s now outside of the top three thanks to Skyrim.
It’s actually pretty surprising to see Skyrim up there, but it’s also a testament to both the appeal of the console RPG and how well this game is selling. When revealed late last year, most gamers thought Skyrim was destined to be a huge hit, but no one could have predicted that it was going to be nipping at the heels of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Our review has proclaimed Skyrim to be one of the best games of the year, albeit one that continues Bethesda’s traditions of post-launch hiccups. But obviously the good far outweighs the bad in this case, even if it makes the game nigh unplayable for mages.
Of the games on the list, what would be your top 5 for Xbox Live activity? Do you think that this list should include single player games?
Source: Major Nelson Blog
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aww that’s sad, I’m having a blast with Battlefield 3 and Assassin’s Creed Revelations. Skyrim is…err too big or just..not my kinda game. I played it till I got out of the cave and the dude was like ok we could split ways now..and I just stopped playing there. I mean the game is pretty vast and all yes, just WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY too RPGish and the whole animations and graphics put me off. Not saying some of the views weren’t amazing, but the way your character moves and all the sorta..FEELING you get while moving around felt like crap to me, specially the animations. I understand why other people like the game, and maybe I’ll play it again later, but at the moment I’m sooo into…errr action oriented games or etc, speically BF3 and ACR that like..damn I literally spent 30 mins on a 10 minute mission in ACR…it told me to escape are but I didn’t and instead enjoyed kicking and getting kicked in the arse by those heavily guarded Ottoman gaurds..
Damn sooooo many games …not menough time.
Does that make Skyrim better than Battlefield 3 since it’s played more? Well at least on the xbox =p
Not better, just more popular :p Because BF3 is better than MW3 and BO and they’re both played more :p
no it doesnt. altho skyrim is an awesome game battlefield 3 is just still better then most other games. Its sad that cod fanboys wont branch out from their series and play something else for a change. and even if they do branch out, they only play other games for 5 minutes because they cant find a place to camp in they other games.
Of course single player games should be included! What, do you really think multiplayer is everything? If so, you better re-evaluate the market!
1. Skyrim
2. Gears 3
3. Battlefield 3
4. Braid (i still play this game xD)
5. Halo Reach
honestly, this doesn’t suprise me at all. I’m just glad to see people finally seem to be opening their views beyond just first person shooters. Personally, i like RPG games far better than FPS games and if good RPGs sontinue to come out i think this will be a growing trend