Elden Ring was 2022’s third-most searched game but was beaten by 2 viral hits with home-court advantage

Elden Ring was one of the most popular games in 2022, but that didn’t stop it from getting outperformed on Google Search by two viral sensations.

The FromSotfware production was the third most-searched game on Google in 2022 in the United States. Quordle and Wordle, however, were the two most popular hits on the search engine this year.

Both Wordle and Quordle are word games that operate on the same simple rules. In Wordle, players have six guesses to uncover the hidden word. And in Quordle, they have eight guesses to guess a total of four words.

The fourth and fifth places on the game search list were claimed by Heardle and Worldle, respectively. They’re similar to the previous two, with players needing to guess a sound and a country every day.

Wordle was a phenomenon this year. The word game first made a name for itself in 2021 but became a staple name in 2022. It grew at such an astounding rate that The New York Times bought the game in January 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum.

While Elden Ring might not be as popular among Google users, it’s still one of the best games of the year. It won the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2022, outclassing titles like God of War: Ragnarök and Horizon: Forbidden West.