The Top 50 Best-Selling Video Games of All Time
Playing video games is a popular hobby for billions of people around the world. From early systems, like Atari, to the recent releases of PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and gaming PCs, video games will remain a beloved pastime for years to come.
The HP research team took a look at video game sales through the years to determine the best-selling games of all time.
What Are the Best-Selling Video Games?
According to available sales data, the following are the 25 best-selling video games of all time along with an estimation of the number of copies sold:
- Minecraft: 238,000,000
- Grand Theft Auto V: 150,000,000
- Tetris(EA): 100,000,000
- Wii Sports: 82,900,000
- PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds: 70,000,000
- Super Mario Bros.: 58,000,000
- PokémonRed/Green/Blue/Yellow: 47,520,000
- Mario Kart 8/Deluxe: 45,530,000
- Wii Fit/Plus: 43,800,000
- Tetris(Nintendo): 43,000,000
- Pac-Man: 40,955,092
- Red Dead Redemption 2: 38,000,000
- Mario Kart Wii: 37,380,000
- Terraria: 35,000,000
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 33,890,000
- Wii Sports Resort: 33,140,000
- New Super Mario Bros.: 30,800,000
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 30,320,000
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: 30,000,000
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: 30,000,000
- Diablo III/Reaper of Souls: 30,000,000
- The Witcher 3/Hearts of Stone/Blood and Wine: 30,000,000
- Human: Fall Flat: 30,000,000
- PokémonGold/Silver/Crystal: 29,490,000
- Duck Hunt: 28,300,000
Minecraft has sold more than 238 million copies, making it the most-sold video game of all time. Minecraft is a sandbox-style game that had a private release on PC in 2009 and was fully released to the public in 2011. In the game, players explore the world and extract materials, create weapons, and build structures. There are also some game modes that allow players to fight enemies and work with other players in the same world. The game has won many awards and has been cited as one of the best video games of all time. While the game was initially released on computers exclusively, the game can now be played on several platforms including personal computers, consoles, and mobile devices.
One of the most-loved video games on the list is the Nintendo classic Super Mario Bros. Released in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), this iconic game has sold more than 58 million copies through the years. It introduced most people to Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool and later became a pack-in game included with the NES. Other Super Mario games that made the list of best-selling games are New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, and Super Mario Odyssey.
One of the more recent additions to the list is Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game was released at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when many people were looking for a positive activity they could partake in at home while social distancing. The game has gone on to sell more than 33 million copies and continues to be one of the most popular video games around. It has also been praised for the ability for players to visit other players’ islands virtually.
