PlayStation Gameplay Chart: Surprise PlayStation Plus game gets podium finish

By Kes Eylers-Stephenson,

PlayStation Plus' January offerings seem to have appealed to gamers — but did Dirt 5, Deep Rock Galactic, or Persona 5 Strikers perform best? Here is the top 40 PlayStation Gameplay Chart for the week ending January 9th, 2022.

Position	Game	Publisher	Last week
1	Fortnite	Epic Games	1
2	FIFA 22	Electronic Arts	3
3	Grand Theft Auto V	Rockstar Games	2
4	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	Activision	4
5	DiRT 5	Codemasters	-
6	Call of Duty: Vanguard	Activision	5
7	Rocket League	Psyonix	6
8	Apex Legends	Electronic Arts	7
9	Genshin Impact	miHoYo	9
10	Deep Rock Galactic	Coffee Stain Studios	-
11	Minecraft	Mojang Studios	8
12	Destiny 2	Activision	10
13	Persona 5 Strikers	Atlus	RE
14	Marvel's Spider-Man	Sony Interactive Entertainment	12
15	Battlefield 2042	Electronic Arts	11
16	Assassin's Creed Valhalla	Ubisoft	15
17	Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales	Sony Interactive Entertainment	13
18	Ghost of Tsushima	Sony Interactive Entertainment	17
19	Overwatch: Origins Edition	Blizzard Entertainment	14
20	Red Dead Redemption 2	Rockstar Games	16
21	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege	Ubisoft	19
22	Far Cry 6	Ubisoft	18
23	Dead by Daylight 1/2	505 Games	22
24	Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War	Activision	21
25	Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout	Devolver Digital	23
26	NBA 2K22	2K Sports	24
27	Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn	Square Enix	28
28	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	CD Projekt	27
29	LEGO DC Super-Villains	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	20
30	Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy	Square Enix	26
31	It Takes Two	Electronic Arts	29
32	Among Us	Maximum Games	25
33	Horizon Zero Dawn	Sony Interactive Entertainment	32
34	Final Fantasy VII Remake	Square Enix	30
35	Madden NFL 22	Electronic Arts	35
36	Mortal Kombat 11	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	RE
37	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Bethesda Softworks	33
38	The Last of Us Part II	Sony Interactive Entertainment	38
39	Warframe	Digital Extremes	36
40	Call of Duty: Black Ops III	Activision	40

Chart compiled using gameplay data from over 823,000 active PlayStation accounts. Chart information is copyright TrueGaming Network.

Normally, this is the big opening where we tell you about Call of Duty, Fortnite, and FIFA. However, nothing has really happened amongst these games other than FIFA bumping up one place — well done, we guess? The big-ticket item this week, though, is Dirt 5's exceptional performance in fifth place. It's given the above titles a run for their money, coming within an 11% margin of players in the second-place game, FIFA 22. Even for a Plus game, that kind of player count is impressive, especially if you consider that of the total player count, around 60% are driving on PS5 and that it has outperformed Vanguard in sixth by a significant margin. Good stuff from developer Codemasters!

The two remaining PlayStation Plus games for January 2021 have still faired well. Deep Rock Galactic is currently in tenth. The underlying numbers are solid, cementing itself firmly in its position with a minimal player number gap between the drunken dwarves and Genshin Impact in ninth. The step-up from ninth to eighth place (Apex Legends) is a biggie, though. That being said, we have a feeling that Deep Rock Galactic has long legs (for a dwarf) as it is a co-op game. The final plus game is Persona 5 Strikers. Holding itself on top of the teens is a huge win for a relatively niche muso game based upon a JRPG franchise. While we do expect a drop in future, reentry for Atlas' game is a good state of affairs — especially given that it is sitting above the resurging Marvel's Spider-Man and the ever-dropping Battlefield 2042.

Having a look around the chart, things are looking dry for this early January as everything has been pushed down by the new Plus games. Three shouts outs, though. The first goes to Final Fantasy XIV, for finally creeping back up the chart into 27th (technically a four-place rise given the Plus games). Players are finally being given access after the Endwalker expansion destroyed server queuing. The second shoutout is for LEGO DC Super Villians, which has had the longest legs from the December 2021 Plus games, holding off the competition like no one business. It seems it has become a bit of a household staple this Christmas, even if it has suffered a nine-place drop this week. Finally, let's give a bloody, handless applause to Mortal Kombat 11. The fighting game shows us those new entries onto PlayStation Now do have swaying power at the bottom of the chart.

What a week! Have you spotted anything fun in the chart? Let us know in the comments, and we will see you there!

Chart

Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and God of War, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and explosive racers — before an evening swim.