It would be fair to assume a Resident Evil title, maybe even a Silent Hill entry, counts as the best-selling horror game in the United States. That is not the case, however. According to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, such an honor actually belongs to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us., which launched in 2013 and rereleased on the PlayStation 4 in 2014. Reportedly, as of this month, the title has sold in excess of 20 million units across both platforms.

Piscatella shared the interesting statistic on his personal Twitter page, in honor of Halloween. See the analyst’s post on the matter in the following tweet:

Happy Halloween! Did you know that The Last of Us is the highest unit selling Spooky/Scary/Horror game in U.S. history? Source: The NPD Group pic.twitter.com/Yj884iuS5x — Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) October 31, 2019

This is interesting, for sure. Even more intriguing, however, is that The NPD classifies The Last of Us in the horror genre. It makes sense, especially when considering the nature of the fungus that makes combat encounters in the experience so horrific. Still, that it sits in a class among the likes of a Resident Evil, for instance, will likely inspire discourse about where exactly TLoU fits in terms of genre. It also raises the question of what other genre-bending titles makes the NPD’s horror list. Biohshock, perhaps? Could a case technically be made for Batman: Arkham Asylum?

Regardless of its classification, there’s still plenty of The Last of Us to look forward to. The Last of Us Part II, which was recently delayed, will hit the PlayStation 4 early next year on May 29, 2020.

[Source: The NPD Group via Mat Piscatella on Twitter]