2011 Gamers Played Modern Warfare 3 The Most, Skyrim The Longest

Video game social network and stat tracking service Raptr has announced the winners of its 2011 Most Played Games awards, and while overall gamers spent more time playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 than any other 2011 title, it’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that walked home with the Most Played Game of 2011 award. How’s that work?

Raptr’s Most Played awards aren’t just about how many hours the gaming community as a whole spent playing any one video game. They’re about how long each individual player was engaged by each particular interactive entertainment experience. So while millions of Modern Warfare 3 players racked up enough playtime to eclipse Bethesda’s latest by a full nine per cent, in terms of hours spent per person and average session length, Skyrim was the clear winner.

As the chart below clearly indicates, the average player pumped a little over 20 hours into Modern Warfare 3 during its first full month of release, while role-players exploring the province of Skyrim players spent nearly a full day doing so on average. The Elder Scrolls also top Modern Warfare 3 in terms of average session length by around 45 minutes.

Mind you Raptr’s methodology involves only the first month of each title’s release for total time played and total time per player, measuring only the first week for average play session time. It’s likely that long after Skyrim players move onto greener pastures MW3 players will still be logging in for a couple of hours a day to sharpen their skills.

Having won the overall category, Skyrim also topped the role-playing charts, trouncing its closest competitor, Dragon Age 2, in terms of both total time played and average time per player. Modern Warfare 3 topped the shooter list this year, showing up both Gears of War 3 and the core competition, Battlefield 3.

The rest of this year’s winners are as follows:

The Most Played Open-World Game of 2011: Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Most Played Sports Game of 2011: FIFA Soccer 12
The Most Played Social Game of 2011: The Sims Social
The Most Played New IP of 2011: LA Noire
The Most Successful Paid-to-F2P Game of 2011: DC Universe Online

Hit up the link below to see how your favourite games of 2011 stacked up. You might be surprised.

Raptr’s Most Played Games of 2011 [Raptr]