From Software's Elden Ring has taken 2022 by storm, and that now includes YouTube. As revealed by YouTube's video-game focused Twitter account, Elden Ring has gone on to earn 3.4 billion views in 60 days, and has become one of the biggest launches ever in YouTube history.
For comparison, that far outpaces the views gained by Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V (1.9 billion) and Red Dead Redemption II (1.4 billion) in the same timeframe. Other notable game launches include Super Mario Odyssey (828 million), Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (638 million), and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (456 million).
Since its release in February 2022, the action-RPG has become a critical and commercial success. Within the first few weeks of its release, it sold 12 million worldwide copies. In March, game director Hidetaka Miyazaki called it "astonishing" to see the game sell so well.
Gather ‘round Tarnished! Let’s look at the breakdown of how Elden Ring garnered 3.4 billion video views in 60 days, making it one of the biggest launches ever on YouTube ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/252qjZsmOv
— YouTube Gaming (@YouTubeGaming) August 2, 2022
Much of Elden Ring's YouTube presence relates to helping players understand the game's multiple classes, or how to defeat its famously difficult bosses. The YouTube statistics revealed the most uploaded boss fight for Elden Ring videos is Margit, the Fell Omen, with second and third place respectively going to the heavily advertised Maleria, Blade of Miquella, and Godrick, the Grafted. And of the game's classes, the three most uploaded would be Samurai, followed by Hero and Wretch.
Elden Ring's success has already been made clear, but its popularity on YouTube helps show how much the game has taken off in the months since its release. Not only is it the only game released in 2022 so far to have such high launch views, it seems destined to go farther than other games released by From Software.