Best Selling Video Games Of All Time
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This is a list of fifty
video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
that have verifiably sold the highest number of
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
units worldwide. The best-selling video game to date is ''
Minecraft ''Minecraft'' is a 2011 sandbox game developed and published by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Originally created by Markus Persson, Markus "Notch" Persson using the Java (programming language), Java programming language, the ...
'', a 2011 multi-platform
sandbox game A sandbox game is a video game with a gameplay element that provides players a great degree of creativity to interact with, usually without any predetermined goal, or with a goal that the players set for themselves. Such games may lack any objec ...
released by
Mojang Mojang AB, trading as Mojang Studios, is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. A first-party developer for Xbox Game Studios, the studio is best known for developing the sandbox and survival game ''Minecraft'', the best-selli ...
. As of October 2023, it became the first video game to sell over 300 million copies. Its closest competitor, ''
Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'', is the only other video game to have reached both 100 and 200 million copies. The best-selling single-platform game is ''
Wii Sports ''Wii Sports'' is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in North America along with the Wii on 19 November 2006, and in Japan, Australia, and Europe the fo ...
'', with nearly 83 million sales exclusively for the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
console. Three of the most represented video game franchises on this list feature ''
Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...
'', ''
Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...
'', and ''
Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter military video game series and media franchise published by Activision, starting in 2003. The games were first developed by Infinity Ward, then by Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games. Several spin-of ...
''. In certain instances, ''
Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...
'' is often considered the best-selling video game as opposed to ''Minecraft''. The inconsistency originates from the differentiation between standalone game releases and the comprehensive ''Tetris'' franchise as a whole. According to
The Tetris Company The Tetris Company, Inc. (TTC) is the manager and licensor for the ''Tetris'' brand to third parties. It is an American company based in Nevada and owned by the ''Tetris'' creator Alexey Pajitnov and Henk Rogers. The company is the exclusive lic ...
, the sales figures are attributed to the franchise altogether. Another sales issue involves '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'', which game director
Todd Howard Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, Creative director, director, and Video game producer, producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the ...
claims has sold over 60 million copies, can be deemed contentious due to Howard's history of making exaggerated statements about his games. The 2000 video game ''
The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and Video game publisher, published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the List of best-selling video game fran ...
'', published by
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
, is frequently reported as having sold 100 million copies. However, this sales figure is disputed due to ambiguous phrasing from the official source: "The first game from The Sims was sold in 2000 and has gone on to become the best-selling PC game franchise of all time". ''
Snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...
'', a 1998 game released on
Nokia 6110 The Nokia 6110 is a GSM mobile phone from Nokia announced on 18 December 1997 and released in 1998. It was a hugely popular follower of the Nokia 2110 (1994), and the first of the many Nokia 6xxx series business-targeted phones. Main improvemen ...
, is estimated to have shipped on over 400 million devices, is not classified among the best-selling video games as it was pre-installed and freely accessible on Nokia mobile phones. As a result, it does not meet the criteria for inclusion in sales-based rankings, despite its extensive distribution. Other metrics, such as "players", typically refer to the number of active users engaging with the game, rather than the actual sales. Even for paid games, this metric reflects user activity and engagement as opposed to commercial success regarding units sold. For this list, enhanced versions like ''
Pokémon Yellow is a Japanese media franchise consisting of video games, animated series and films, a trading card game, and other related media. The franchise takes place in a shared universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a lar ...
'' or ''
Wii Fit Plus is a 2007 exergaming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It features a variety of Yoga as exercise, yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance (ability), balance mini-games for use with the Wii Balance Board perip ...
'', along with
expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...
s, are considered iterative updates to the original games and are designed to coexist with them. Therefore, combining their sales provides a more complete impression of the game's overall growth. In contrast,
remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
and remasters are standalone releases aimed at new audiences and updated to meet modern technological standards. Reporting their sales separately ensures an accurate representation of their performance and avoids inflating legacy figures.


See also

*
List of best-selling video game franchises The list of best-selling video game franchises shows sales or shipments of at least twenty million copies each. Unless otherwise stated, numbers indicate worldwide unit sales, ordered alphabetically. The exception are those specifying shipment ...
*
List of best-selling game consoles A video game console is a standardized computing device designed primarily for playing video games. Consoles are typically compact and can be used in various settings. They may utilize one or more data storage devices, such as hard disk drives, ...
* List of best-selling video games in the United States by year *
List of highest-grossing media franchises This is a list of media franchises that have grossed more than $2 billion. List See also * List of best-selling comic series ** List of best-selling manga ** List of best-selling light novels * List of best-selling video game franchises * L ...
*
List of most-played mobile games by player count This is a list of the most-played mobile games ordered by their player count, which include reported player data, registered accounts, and monthly active users. For non-mobile games, see the list of most-played video games by player count. Mobile ...
* Lists of best-selling video games by platform * List of highest-grossing arcade games


Notes


References

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