Popular Xbox games — December 5th, 2022

By Luke Albigés,

Our latest Gameplay Chart of popular Xbox games shows little threat to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's commanding lead at the top, but there's interesting stuff happening lower down the list...

As usual, the top flight of our chart showcasing the last week's most-played Xbox games reads a little like an even-sided clash between commercial giants and some of the best free Xbox games, with free-to-play titles making up exactly half of the top five thanks to top spot Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II being a combination of base game and F2P Warzone 2 players. That top five goes unchanged this week, and despite slightly lower numbers week-on-week for Modern Warfare II, it's still sitting pretty with more than double Fortnite's player count — it'll be interesting to see how that balance shifts next week following Fortnite's massive Chapter 4 drop.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II

The first big new entry this week comes in the form of Insurgency: Sandstorm, with the FPS exploding into 15th on the chart after joining Game Pass last week and in spite of some serious competition in the genre higher on the list. A little below, we once again see the amazing impact that Game Pass Quests can have on this chart, with Marvel's Avengers flying back up to sit just outside the top 20 (no doubt helped by its long-awaited latest update that brings the Winter Soldier and A.I.M. Cloning Lab endgame mission) while Two Point Campus and Midnight Fight Express both make it back into the top 30 following their respective Quests appearances, too.

While they haven't yet enjoyed a full week since launch to help bolster their player counts, Friday's big Xbox releases currently have a pretty surprising distribution. Need for Speed Unbound performs best, just missing out on a top-20 launch, though it's worth noting that it has an edge over the other two thanks to its typical EA early access period. The Callisto Protocol, meanwhile, only just manages to squeak in and claim the bottom spot on the list after rather middling reviews calmed some of the buzz around the new survival horror game, and poor Marvel's Midnight Suns is nowhere to be seen — in a rather shocking glimpse behind the curtain, Firaxis' superhero strategy game didn't even make the top 100, despite arguably being the best game of the three.

The Callisto Protocol post-launch DLC roadmap

The lower half of the chart shows typically downward movement this week, with lots of games sliding a few places to make room for the new and returning ones. This forces a whopping eight games out of the top 40 — PUBG: Battlegrounds, For Honor, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Smite, Gungrave G.O.R.E. (which lasted a single week), Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Gang Beasts, and It Takes Two.

Looking ahead, while most of 2022's major releases are now with us, there are a few promising things yet to come. This week has the likes of Hello Neighbor 2 and Chained Echoes waiting in the wings for Game Pass, then next week will see wacky adventure High on Life also looking to join the ranks of the best games on Game Pass. We're also expecting Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion and the current-gen upgrade for The Witcher III, and we have to imagine most of these will likely hit the chart in the coming weeks... but where?

Here's the full chart for this week. Let us know your thoughts down in the comments!

Top 40 Xbox Gameplay Chart (w/e December 4th, 2022)

PositionGamePublisherLast week
1 iconCall of Duty: Modern Warfare IIActivision1
2 iconFortniteEpic Games2
3 iconMinecraftXbox Game Studios3
4 iconOverwatch 2Blizzard Entertainment4
5 iconGrand Theft Auto VRockstar Games5
6 iconFIFA 23Electronic Arts6
7 iconRocket LeaguePsyonix8
8 iconROBLOXRoblox7
9 iconForza Horizon 5Xbox Game Studios10
10 iconBattlefield 2042Electronic Arts9
11 iconApex LegendsElectronic Arts11
12 iconHalo InfiniteXbox Game Studios12
13 iconDestiny 2Bungie13
14 iconTom Clancy's Rainbow Six SiegeUbisoft14
15 iconInsurgency: SandstormFocus EntertainmentRE
16 iconFall GuysEpic Games15
17 iconFIFA 22Electronic Arts18
18 iconCall of Duty: Modern WarfareActivision16
19 iconNBA 2K232K Sports17
20 iconMadden NFL 23Electronic Arts20
21 iconMarvel's AvengersSquare EnixRE
22 iconNeed for Speed UnboundElectronic Arts-
23 iconRed Dead Redemption 2Rockstar Games24
24 iconVampire Survivorsponcle21
25 iconSea of ThievesXbox Game Studios22
26 iconGroundedXbox Game Studios25
27 iconTwo Point CampusSEGARE
28 iconMidnight Fight ExpressHumble GamesRE
29 iconCall of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarActivision26
30 iconDead by Daylight505 Games27
31 iconHalo: The Master Chief CollectionXbox Game Studios28
32 iconElden RingBandai Namco Entertainment29
33 iconThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special EditionBethesda Softworks32
34 iconCyberpunk 2077CD Projekt31
35 iconWarframeDigital ExtremesRE
36 iconARK: Survival EvolvedReverb Publishing34
37 iconEA SPORTS UFC 4Electronic Arts33
38 iconMadden NFL 22Electronic Arts30
39 iconAssassin's Creed ValhallaUbisoftRE
40 iconThe Callisto ProtocolSkybound Games-
Chart compiled using gameplay data from over 2.4 million active Xbox accounts. Chart information is copyright GameInsights. For details on how the chart is calculated, click here.
Luke Albigés
Written by Luke Albigés
Luke runs the TA news team, contributing where he can primarily with reviews and other long-form features — crafts he has honed across two decades of print and online gaming media experience, having worked with the likes of gamesTM, Eurogamer, Play, Retro Gamer, Edge, and many more. He loves all things Monster Hunter, enjoys a good D&D session, and has played way too much Destiny.
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