List of best-selling video games
Video games |
---|
This is a list of video games that have sold the highest number of software units worldwide. The best-selling video game to date is Minecraft, a sandbox game released by Mojang in May 2009 for a wide range of PC, mobile and console platforms, selling more than 238 million copies across all platforms. Grand Theft Auto V and EA's Tetris are the only other known video games to have sold over 100 million copies. The best-selling game on a single platform is Wii Sports, with nearly 83 million sales for the Wii console.
Among the top 50 best-selling video games on this list, over half were developed or published by Nintendo, including four of the top ten; four Nintendo titles were published with their affiliate, The Pokémon Company. Other publishers with multiple entries in the top 50 include Activision and Rockstar Games with five games each, Electronic Arts with three games, and Namco Bandai with two games. Nintendo EAD is the developer with the most games in the top 50, with thirteen titles on the list, followed by Game Freak with six Pokémon games. The oldest game in the top 50 is Pac-Man, released in May 1980, while the most recent is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, released in March 2020.
Games reported on by player count instead of official sales figures, such as registered accounts, subscriptions, or free-to-play ownership, are included on the list of most-played video games by player count instead. For the best-selling video game franchises, see the list of best-selling video game franchises. Games reported on by gross revenue are included on the list of highest-grossing arcade games and list of highest-grossing mobile games.
List
See also
- List of best-selling video game franchises
- List of fastest-selling products
- List of highest-grossing media franchises
- List of most-played mobile games by player count
- Lists of best-selling video games by platform
- List of highest-grossing mobile games
- List of highest-grossing arcade games
Notes
- ^ a b Only developers and publishers for the original release of each game are listed, except where noted otherwise.
- ^ The original PC version sold over 33 million units, as of November 2019[update].[1]
- ^ a b c d Including paid mobile game downloads.
- ^ Although Minecraft was first publicly available on May 17, 2009,[2] and the full release on November 18, 2011, the game first accepted pre-orders on June 13, 2009, so it started accumulating sales at that time.[3]
- ^ Mobile, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable
- ^ Originally released on NES and arcade platforms.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. sold more than 50 million units worldwide up until 1996.[11] 660,000 units were later sold on Wii Virtual Console,[12] Super Mario Bros. Deluxe version sold 5.07 million units on Game Boy Color, and Classic NES Series port sold 2.27 million units on Game Boy Advance.[13]
- ^ Mario Kart 8 sold 8.46 million units[14] and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 48.41 million units.[15]
- ^ Red, Green, Blue and Yellow versions sold 46.02 million units on Game Boy,[17][18] and 1.5 million units on Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.[19]
- ^ Tetris (NES) / Tetris (Game Boy)
- ^ Tetris (Game Boy) sold 35 million cartridges.[21] Tetris (NES) sold 8 million cartridges.[22]
- ^ Pac-Man:
- Arcade video game version (1980) – 400,000 arcade cabinets[23]
- Atari 2600 version (1982) – 8,095,586 game cartridges (7,956,413 by 1983,[24] 139,173 between 1986 and 1990)[25]
- Pac-Man Nelsonic Game Watch (1982) – 500,000+ units[26]
- Coleco tabletop version (1982) – 1.5 million units[27]
- Family Computer (Famicom) and Famicom Mini (Game Boy Advance) versions – 598,679 cartridges in Japan[28][29]
- Game Boy Advance re-release (2004) – 400,000 cartridges in North America[30]
- Atari 5200 version – 35,011 cartridges (between 1986 and 1988)[25]
- Atari XE computer version – 42,359 copies (between 1986 and 1990)[25]
- Thunder Mountain's home computer budget release (1986) – 500,000+ copies[31]
- Mobile phone version – 30 million+ paid downloads[32]
- ^ The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sold 27.79 million units on Nintendo Switch,[15] and 1.70 million units on Wii U.[39]
- ^ Gold and Silver versions sold 23.1 million units[18] and Crystal version sold 6.39 million units on Game Boy Color.[40]
- ^ Super Mario World sold 20.61 million units on Super Nintendo Entertainment System[44] and 362,500 units on Wii Virtual Console,[12] and Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 sold 5.69 million units on Game Boy Advance.[44]
- ^ Sun and Moon sold 16.28 million units and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon sold 9.09 million units.[47]
- ^ Diamond and Pearl versions sold 17.67 million units,[34] and Platinum version sold 7.06 million units.[49]
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 18 million units on Nintendo Entertainment System[50] and 1 million units on Wii Virtual Console,[12] and Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 5.4 million units on Game Boy Advance.[13]
- ^ Sonic the Hedgehog sold 15 million units on Sega Genesis,[53] 482,960 units on Xbox Live Arcade,[54] 8 million paid mobile downloads up until 2008,[55] and over 500,000 paid Android downloads between 2013 and 2016.[56]
References
- ^ "Store Minecraft". Minecraft.net. Mojang. Archived from the original on November 8, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- ^ Persson, Markus (May 17, 2009). "Minecraft 0.0.11a for public consumption : The Word of Notch". Tumblr. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ Persson, Markus (June 13, 2009). "Pre-orders are open!". The Word of Notch. Tumblr. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- ^ Winslow, Jeremy (May 3, 2021). "Minecraft Reached 140 Million Monthly Users And Generated Over $350 Million To Date". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ^ "Minecraft Franchise Fact Sheet" (PDF). Xbox.com. Microsoft. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ a b Sinclair, Brendan (November 7, 2022). "Take-Two losses deeper than forecast". Gamesindustry.biz. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
- ^ "Tetris Game Surpasses 100 Million Paid Mobile Downloads, Was the Best-Selling Mobile Phone Game of All Time". Electronic Arts. January 21, 2010. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2010.
- ^ Arts, Electronic. "Tetris". Electronic Arts Inc. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Wii Software". Nintendo. March 31, 2022. Archived from the original on December 19, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ Peters, Jay (December 9, 2021). "The original PUBG is going free-to-play". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
- ^ "The History of Mario: A look in Mario's roots may help gamers see Nintendo's famous mascot within a bigger framework". IGN. September 30, 1996. Archived from the original on March 11, 2002. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
Nintendo's first U.S. home videogame console, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was released in 1985 with Mario starring in Super Mario Bros. The legendary title has gone on to sell more than 50 million units worldwide.
- ^ a b c Hatfield, Daemon (February 23, 2010). "WiiWare, Virtual Console Sales Exposed". IGN. Archived from the original on March 23, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ^ a b 2004 CESAゲーム白書 (2004 CESA Games White Paper). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. July 2004. pp. 58–63. ISBN 4-902346-04-4.
- ^ "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Wii U Software". Nintendo. March 31, 2022. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units". Nintendo. March 31, 2022. Archived from the original on January 30, 2020. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (April 29, 2022). "Activision's Overwatch 2 Is Redefining the Sequel". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ "'Pokken Tournament' and Pokemon's $1.5 Billion Brand". The Huffington Post. AOL. March 19, 2017. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ a b Top 10 of Everything 2017. London, England: Hachette UK. October 6, 2016. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-600-63374-7. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2016". Nintendo. April 28, 2016. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ^ "Terraria State of the Game – May 2022". Terraria Forums. May 23, 2022. Archived from the original on May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ Sparkes, Matthew (June 6, 2014). "Tetris at 30: a history of the world's most successful game". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on April 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ Director/Producer: Magnus Temple; Executive Producer: Nick Southgate (2004). "Tetris: From Russia With Love". BBC Four. Event occurs at 51:23. BBC. BBC Four. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
The real winners were Nintendo. To date, Nintendo dealers across the world have sold 8 million Tetris cartridges on the Nintendo Entertainment system.
- ^ Kao, John J. (1989). Entrepreneurship, creativity & organization: text, cases & readings. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 45. ISBN 0-13-283011-6.
Estimates counted 7 billion coins that by 1982 had been inserted into some 400,000 Pac Man machines worldwide, equal to one game of Pac Man for every person on earth. US domestic revenues from games and licensing of the Pac Man image for T-shirts, pop songs, to wastepaper baskets, etc. exceeded $1 billion.
- ^ Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in.
- ^ a b c Vendel, Curt (May 28, 2009). "Site News". Atari Museum. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ Shea, Tom (December 20, 1982). "Shrinking Pac-Man leads game-wristwatch market". InfoWorld. Vol. 4, no. 50. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. pp. 44–5. ISSN 0199-6649. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ "Coleco Mini-Arcades Go Gold" (PDF). Arcade Express. 1 (1): 4. August 15, 1982. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
- ^ "Game Search (based on Famitsu data)". Game Data Library. March 1, 2020. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
- ^ "Namco (Japan sales, 2000–2006)". Garaph (based on Famitsu data). July 28, 2005. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
- ^ "Namco Fiscal Quarter Report" (PDF). Japan: Bandai Namco Holdings. August 8, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2006. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- ^ Worley, Joyce (December 1989). "Mega Hits: The Best of the Best". Video Games & Computer Entertainment (11): 130–132, 137, 138.
- ^ "Namco Networks' Pac-Man Franchise Surpasses 30 Million Paid Transactions in the United States on Brew". AllBusiness.com. 2010. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (April 14, 2022). "Cyberpunk 2077 Has Sold 18 Million Copies, The Witcher 3 Up to 40 Million". IGN Africa. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Nintendo DS Software". Nintendo. March 31, 2022. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
- ^ "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Sells 30 Million Copies". ComicBook.com. September 2, 2020. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
- ^ Sarker, Samit (August 4, 2015). "Diablo 3 lifetime sales top 30 million units". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
- ^ "Human: Fall Flat celebrates 30 million copies on 5th anniversary and announces new laboratory level". Gamasutra. July 22, 2021. Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
- ^ Suellentrop, Chris (November 21, 2016). "'Skyrim' Creator on Why We'll Have to Wait for Another 'Elder Scrolls'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ 2021CESAゲーム白書 (2021 CESA Games White Papers). Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association. 2021. ISBN 978-4-902346-43-5.
- ^ "Pokemon Ultra Sun And Ultra Moon Have Outsold Crystal And Emerald". NintendoSoup. February 1, 2018. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ^ Welch, Hanuman (April 23, 2013). "1984: Duck Hunt – The Best Selling Video Game Of Every Year Since 1977". Complex. Archived from the original on April 24, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ Kim, Matt (December 13, 2019). "Telltale Games' Shut Down and 'Revival,' Explained". IGN. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
- ^ "From 1997–2013: How the Grand Theft Auto series has evolved". ITV. September 13, 2013. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ a b O'Malley, James (September 11, 2015). "30 Best-Selling Super Mario Games of All Time on the Plumber's 30th Birthday". Gizmodo. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Call of Duty: A Short History". IGN. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ "Take-Two Interactive | Investor Presentation - November 2022". Take-Two Interactive. November 7, 2022. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
- ^ "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Nintendo 3DS Software". Nintendo. September 30, 2020. Archived from the original on October 31, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
- ^ Vincent, James (October 7, 2013). "GTA 5 has already beaten GTA 4's lifetime sales". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 26, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ "Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ended March 2010" (PDF). Nintendo. May 7, 2010. p. 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2010.
- ^ Gilbert, Henry (October 23, 2013). "25 things we still love about Super Mario Bros. 3 25 years later". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on January 28, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ^ Vincent, James (September 5, 2018). "FIFA 18 sells over 24 million copies". Gamesindustry.biz. Archived from the original on September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
- ^ Weinberger, Matt (September 9, 2015). "The downfall of Kinect: Why Microsoft gave up on its most promising product". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 13, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
- ^ Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective Pt. 3/4 (YouTube). GameTap (user gametap). February 16, 2009. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
- ^ Langley, Ryan (January 20, 2012). "Xbox Live Arcade by the numbers – the 2011 year in review". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ^ Parfitt, Ben (May 29, 2008). "Sonic rings mobile success". MCV. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ^ "Sonic The Hedgehog". Google Play Store. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
- ^ "God Of War 2018 Reaches 23 Milion Sales Worldwide". GameSpot. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (November 3, 2021). "GTA 5 Sells 155 Million Copies Ahead Of PS5 And Xbox Series X|S Launch In 2022". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.