Don’t rest just yet, the top lists of 2015 still have life left in them.
Earlier this week, Sony played its cards from last year, revealing on the Playstation blog page the Playstation Store’s Top Downloads of 2015. These lists detailed the top 20 most downloaded pieces of software from both December of 2015, and from the year in it’s totality, spreading across the PS4, PS3, Vita, Classic Playstation games, and respective DLC for both PS3 and PS4 games.
To what I’m sure will be gasps of surprise, Minecraft appeared in at least the top 3 most downloaded games on both the PS4, and Vita lists, topping that of the PS3. Then again, who would expect anything else from such a universally accessible, easily playable arguable party game, especially in the child market. Conversely, if not surprisingly, GTA 5 made it’s presence felt, sliding in at third most downloaded for PS3, still very powerful, and being rejuvenated on PS4, appearing as 2nd on the Playstation Store’s Top Downloads for the next gen console.
Call of Duty made it’s yearly romp onto the list with Advanced Warfare appearing at the top spot for PS4 downloads for all of 2015, alongside appearing as second on the PS3 list. This heralds massive success for Treyarch, who’s game was only released on November of last year, and yet beats out titles such Fallout 4, Witcher 3, Bloodborne, and MGS5. In fact, taking just December of last year, it holds the top spot for PS3 users, and loses only to Battlefront for PS4.
For PS4 DLC, it is a hard fought battle between Call of Duty and, not surprisingly, Destiny, for top spot, with The Taken King, a well reviewed, excellently received expansion ultimately claiming the title, tailed quickly by the Advanced Warfare – Havoc Pack, and followed finally by the Elder Scrolls Online, Tamriel Unlimited Pack, which one could have sensibly expected to place higher, due to it being the equivalent of just removing the subscription costs from an MMO, but for a game which has had rather, unstable, player frequency, one can understand this.
As for the Playstation Store’s Top Downloads list for PS3 DLC in 2015, one must look to item 7 out of a list of 10 in order to see anything which isn’t in some way Call of Duty. For their credit, both Advanced Warfare, and, somewhat surprisingly, Black Ops 2 appear on this list, which renders the latter quite impressive, with an appeal which has lasted just over 2 years, such to claim 2nd position on this list with Nuketown Zombies. The top, of course, goes to the Advanced Warfare – Havoc Pack.
The Vita sees, to some surprise from the community, the top spot going to Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment. In fairness, this was a game that received favourable reviews, selling 145,029 physical retail copies within the first week of release in Japan, and only continuing its success as it spread from here. As aforementioned, it was rivalled by Minecraft, as is only to be expected, and followed in the third position by Gravity Rush, the Crackdown inspired open world game from the wonderful mind of Keiichiro Toyama. These beat other Vita titles such as Persona 4 Golden (6th), Mortal Kombat (9th), and Binding of Isaac Rebirth (10th).
The PS Classics also had an appearance on the Playstation Store’s Top Downloads list for 2015, topped off by GTA San Andreas, which is deeply impressive for an item added back in December of 2012, presumably held aloft by a sturdy fanbase of nostalgic gamers. This was directly followed by Mega Man X4 in the second position, and Mega Man X5 in third, not at all reflective of their critical reception, as X5 was widely considered to be superior. These beat out other classics such as GTA Vice City (6th), Katamari Damacy (7th) and Final Fantasy IX (10th).
Overall, a few surprises and much more of the same. Anyone who expected Call of Duty to not dominate the newest console release with it’s latest installment, or who thought that Minecraft came out of the blue, are nothing but lying to themselves at this point. There are powerhouses we come to expect, and indeed this year we were not disappointed.
