Not so surprisingly, Call of Duty once again dominated the charts in the Xbox LIVE standings for 2012. While  'Call of Duty: Black Ops II' was ranked the most played Xbox 360 game for 2012, its predecessor, "Modern Warfare 3," came second in the list.  

In an analysis of 'Top Xbox games of 2012' Microsoft spokesman Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb listed the 2012's top 20 games of the following categories: Live, Arcade, Indie and Games for Windows Live. The analysis is based on the average unique users per day connected to Xbox Live or full versions purchased between Jan. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012.

'Halo 4' came third in the list of the overall Xbox Live activity charts for last year followed by Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition fourth and Call of Duty: Black Ops fifth. FIFA 13 and FIFA 12 were ranked at number six and seven respectively in the list of most played games.

The Xbox Live Arcade chart was based on full game purchases, and not on active users, which in turn makes it into a list of best-selling XBLA games. 'Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition' naturally topped the list of the top Arcade titles while 'Trials Evolution' and 'The Walking Dead' came second and third in the list.

There are the full rankings for the top games of 2012 below:

Xbox 360 Top LIVE Titles

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Halo 4

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

Call of Duty: Black Ops

FIFA Soccer 13

FIFA Soccer 12

Battlefield 3

Halo: Reach

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Borderlands 2

Assassin's Creed III

Skyrim

Madden NFL 13

Gears of War 3

NBA 2K13

NBA 2K12

Far Cry 3

Grand Theft Auto IV

Forza Motorsport 4

Top Arcade Titles (Full Versions purchased)

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

Trials Evolution

The Walking Dead

Pinball FX2

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Castle Crashers

Gotham City Impostors

I Am Alive

Fruit Ninja Kinect

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD

Trials HD

Magic 2013

Fez

Dungeon Defenders

Alan Wake's American Nightmare

Peggle

The Simpsons Arcade Game

REAL STEEL

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

Full House Poker

Top Indie Games (Full Versions purchased)

CastleMiner Z

CastleMiner

Total Miner: Forge

Avatar Deathmatch

FortressCraft Chapter 1

Murder Miners

The Impossible Game

Avatar Laser Wars 2

The $1 Zombie Game

Avatar Paintball

Avatar Legends

Fortress Wars

Miner Of Duty

Miner4Ever

Avatar Laser Wars

End Of Days: Infected vs Mercs

Toy Stunt Bike 2

Flight Adventure 2

Don't Die Dateless, Dummy!

Block World

Games for Windows Top LIVE Titles (based on average UU's per day)

GTA IV

Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition

Age of Empires Online

Batman Arkham City

Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Microsoft Flight

DiRT 3

F1 2011

Resident Evil 5

Fallout 3

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Fable III

Bioshock 2

Gotham City Impostors

Colin McRae : Dirt 2

Bulletstorm

Street Fighter X Tekken

Resident Evil Raccoon City

F1 2010

Street Fighter IV

Source: Major Nelson