List of best-selling video game franchises

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This is a list of the best-selling video game franchises worldwide, ranked up to 50th place by reported software unit sales. Mario is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with over 893 million units sold since its first commercial release in 1983. Nintendo, the publisher of Mario, has the most franchises on the list with eight entries.

For this list, sales figures must be directly attributed to a franchise to be included. In instances where overall figures for a franchise are not known but sales of a single game within that franchise are, sales for that game will be attributed to the franchise. Sales of expansion packs and episodic video games are included. Metrics such as "players" or "installs" are not listed as they typically refer to user engagement rather than sales; even for paid games, these metrics could include free trials or other free promotions and cannot reliably be substituted for sales figures.

The listed publisher correspond to each franchise's most recent release, and release years refer only to the first commercial launch, excluding any pre-release stages. Rankings serve solely for numbering purposes and are not meant to be precise, reflecting the list's limited scope because there is no credible, comprehensive sales-tracking source for the video game industry,[1] unlike for films, which have box office tracking sites such as Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Tied ranks are resolved using the standard competition ranking method, in which entries with equal figures share the same rank and following ranks are increased based on the number of tied entries.

Overview of best-selling video game franchises
Rank Franchise Sales (millions) Debut year Publisher(s) Ref.
1 Mario[b] 893.5 1983 Nintendo [5]
2 Tetris 520 1988[c] Various[d] [9]
3 Call of Duty 500 2003 Activision [10]
4 Pokémon 489 1996 Nintendo / The Pokémon Company [11]
5 Grand Theft Auto 460 1997 Rockstar Games [12]
6 Minecraft[e] 350 2011 Mojang Studios [13]
7 FIFA 325 1993 Electronic Arts [14]
8 Assassin's Creed 230 2007 Ubisoft [15]
9 Final Fantasy 204 1987 Square Enix [16]
Wii[f] 204 2006 Nintendo [19]
11 The Sims 200 2000 Electronic Arts [20]
12 Resident Evil 178 1996 Capcom [21]
13 NBA 2K 167 1999 2K [12]
14 Madden NFL 150 1988 Electronic Arts [22]
Need for Speed 150 1994 Electronic Arts [23]
16 Sonic the Hedgehog 140 1991 Sega [24]
17 The Legend of Zelda 133 1986 Nintendo [19]
18 Monster Hunter 123 2004 Capcom [21]
19 Pro Evolution Soccer 112.5 1995 Konami [25]
20 Red Dead 106 2004 Rockstar Games [12]
21 Mortal Kombat 100 1992 Warner Bros. Games [26]
Tomb Raider 100 1996 Various[g] [27]
Gran Turismo 100 1997 Sony Interactive Entertainment [28]
Bejeweled 100 2000 Electronic Arts [29]
25 Borderlands 99 2009 2K [12]
26 Tamagotchi 98.1 1996 Bandai [30]
27 WWE 2K 98 2000 2K [31]
28 Dragon Quest 95 1986 Square Enix [16]
29 Just Dance 90 2009 Ubisoft [32]
30 Battlefield 88.7 2002 Electronic Arts [33]
31 Donkey Kong 82 1981 Nintendo [19]
32 Halo 81 2001 Xbox Game Studios [34]
33 Civilization 80 1991 2K [12]
The Walking Dead 80 2012 Telltale Games / Skybound Games [35]
35 Worms 75 1995 Team17 [36]
The Witcher 75 2007 CD Projekt [37]
37 Super Smash Bros. 72 1999 Nintendo [38]
Counter-Strike 72 2000 Valve [39]
39 Animal Crossing 70 2001 Nintendo [19]
40 God of War 66 2005 Sony Interactive Entertainment [40]
41 Metal Gear 65.1 1987 Konami [41]
42 The Oregon Trail 65 1971 Gameloft [42]
43 Tekken 61 1994 Bandai Namco Entertainment [30]
44 Far Cry 60 2004 Ubisoft [43]
45 Street Fighter 58 1987 Capcom [21]
46 Kirby 50 1992 Nintendo [38]
Destiny 50 2014 Bungie [44]
Overwatch[h] 50 2016 Blizzard Entertainment [45]
Marvel's Spider-Man 50 2018 Sony Interactive Entertainment [46]
50 Pac-Man 48 1980 Bandai Namco Entertainment [47]

See also

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Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Sales for the Mario Kart franchise are attributed to Mario Kart 8 (8.46 million)[3] and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (69.56 million).[4] A figure for the overall franchise is not known.
  2. ^ The Mario franchise consists of many sub-series, including Super Mario (430 million)[2] and Mario Kart (78.02 million).[a] These sub-series accumulated enough sales to be listed in the top 50, but are grouped into the main series.
  3. ^ The release date of the first Tetris games sold commercially.[6] Earlier games were given out for free.[7][8]
  4. ^ Tetris does not have a primary publisher. It is licensed by the Tetris Company.
  5. ^ Sales for the Minecraft franchise are attributed to the 2011 game. A figure for the overall franchise is not known.
  6. ^ Wii Sports (2006) was bundled with the Wii console in all regions except Japan.[17] Nintendo includes those bundles in the overall sales figure.[18]
  7. ^ Tomb Raider does not have a primary publisher. It is owned by Embracer Group.
  8. ^ Sales for the Overwatch franchise are attributed to the 2016 game. A figure for the overall franchise is not known.

References

[edit]
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  2. ^ Hagstrom, Anders (August 21, 2023). "The voice behind Nintendo's Mario hangs up his hat: 'It has been an honor'". Fox News. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  3. ^ "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Wii U Software". Nintendo. September 30, 2024. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  4. ^ "Sales Data – Top Selling Title Sales Units – Nintendo Switch Software". Nintendo. September 30, 2025. Archived from the original on November 4, 2025. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  5. ^ "Best-selling videogame series". Guinness World Records. June 10, 2025. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  6. ^ "Soviets Play Capitalist Game With New Computer Puzzle". The Los Angeles Times. January 28, 1988. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
  7. ^ Gerasimov, Vadim. "Tetris Story". Archived from the original on August 21, 2006. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Sirani, Jordan (April 19, 2019). "Top 10 Best-Selling Video Games of All Time". IGN. Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "About Tetris®". Tetris. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  10. ^ Park, Gene (October 30, 2024). "At half a billion sales, Call of Duty is as good as it's ever been". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 1, 2025. The Call of Duty series has sold more than 500 million copies to date, publisher Activision-Blizzard told The Washington Post.
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  12. ^ a b c d e "Investor Presentation – November 2025" (PDF). Take-Two Interactive. November 6, 2025. Retrieved November 7, 2025.
  13. ^ Persson, Marcus (November 1, 2025). "Minecraft sells 350 million copies". Gamereactor. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
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  16. ^ a b "Award-winning Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox on January 22, 2026". Square Enix. September 12, 2025. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
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  22. ^ Shea, Bill (December 30, 2021). "EA Sports working on plans to honor John Madden, whose video game came to rule the industry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 1, 2025. Today, the "Madden" video game has sold more than 150 million copies and generated more than $4 billion in revenue for EA.
  23. ^ "EA Signs Multi-Year Agreement With X-Games Medalist and Internet Phenom Ken Block for Need for Speed". Electronic Arts. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  24. ^ Hornshaw, Phil (June 24, 2016). "Gotta Go Fast: How Sonic the Hedgehog Transcended Video Games to Become an Icon". Complex. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
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  27. ^ "Tomb Raider IV-VI remastered reveal 100 million games sold and more". Tomb Raider. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  28. ^ "Gran Turismo Celebrates a Historic Milestone: 100 Million Units Sold Worldwide". Gran Turismo. September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
  29. ^ Edwards, Jim (September 11, 2013). "The Definitive, Illustrated History of the Most Underrated Game Ever". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  30. ^ a b "Fact Book 2025" (PDF). Bandai Namco Group. 2025. p. 4. Retrieved October 29, 2025.
  31. ^ "The Top Global Licensors 2023" (PDF). License Global. July 2023. p. 34. Retrieved November 30, 2025.
  32. ^ "Just Dance Celebrates 15th Anniversary". Ubisoft. November 19, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  33. ^ Stanton, Rich (November 23, 2022). "Sony says 'the Battlefield franchise cannot keep up' with COD". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  34. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 24, 2021). "Halo TV Series Moves From Showtime To Paramount+". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  35. ^ Takahashi, Dean (January 27, 2025). "The Walking Dead games hit $1B in revenue and the Netflix show hits 1.3B viewing hours in 2023". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  36. ^ Snowdon, Ros (March 10, 2020). "Team17 celebrates record year with plans for a new Worms game". The Yorkshire Post. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  37. ^ Peters, Jay (May 29, 2023). "The Witcher is officially one of the most successful game series of all time". The Verge. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
  38. ^ a b Thibaut (June 23, 2025). "More than 72 million Smash Bros. games have been sold so far". Instant-Gaming. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  39. ^ Takahashi, Dean (July 21, 2025). "How Counter-Strike creator is crafting his new shooter Alpha Response". GamesBeat. Retrieved August 5, 2025.
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  42. ^ Lussenhop, Jessica (January 19, 2011). "Oregon Trail: How three Minnesotans forged its path". City Pages. Archived from the original on January 23, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  43. ^ "Corporate Press Kit" (PDF). Ubisoft. 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 16, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  44. ^ Crecente, Brian (January 10, 2019). "Destiny Rights Return to Bungie as Developer, Activision Part Ways". Variety. Retrieved November 4, 2025.
  45. ^ 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 June 5, 2023.
  46. ^ Barker, Sammy (February 14, 2024). "Marvel's Spider-Man 2's PS5 Sales Swing Past 10 Million Units". Push Square. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  47. ^ Markovich, Alex (May 30, 2025). "Hooray For 45 Years of Pac-Man". License Global. Retrieved December 1, 2025.