Top 10 Best Selling Video Games of All Time
#10: “Red Dead Redemption 2” (2018)
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Yeah, it says a lot about the kind of numbers we’re dealing with, when a blockbuster hit like “Red Dead 2” only barely makes our list! This highly anticipated Western open world game had so much hype around it that it had the second fastest selling launch in the history of entertainment! We’ll get the first later. But it wasn’t just its opening numbers that were good. “Red Dead Redemption 2” maintained its ability to sell well, having sold a total of around 43 million copies to date. That’s quite the score for Arthur and the gang, and for players as well, who have enjoyed this rich, rewarding Western story.
#9: “Wii Fit” (2008) & “Wii Fit Plus” (2009)
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You weren’t expecting this, were you? Exercise equipment is big business, and an exercise video game for the Wii, one of the best-selling game systems, was bound to do well. With “Wii Fit” and its slightly enhanced version “Wii Fit Plus,” players are taken through various aerobic and yoga exercises using the Wii balance board and an easy-to-use interface. This made it popular not only with individual consumers, but also with gyms and other fitness centers around the world! Combined, “Wii Fit” and “Wii Fit Plus” sold 43.8 million units. And they say gamers don’t exercise!
#8: “Pokémon Red and Blue” (1998) & “Pokémon Yellow” (1999)
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Shockingly, these are the only “Pokémon” games on our list. Released in various colors with slight differences in the last years of the 20th century, the first generation of “Pokémon” games took the world by storm! It may seem old hat now, but collecting all the adorable and/or awesome pocket monsters and trading or battling them with or without your friends was a total game changer. In addition to the massive franchise that sprung up around them, the O.G. “Pokémon” titles put out 47.5 million copies. While Game Freak and Nintendo didn’t manage to “catch us all,” they did catch a lot of us, and we caught the Pokémon bug…and bug Pokémon!
#7: “Mario Kart 8” (2014) & “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” (2017)
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First released on the Wii U and then ported to an enhanced version, “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” on the Switch, “Mario Kart 8” has been the de facto “Mario Kart” game for 8 years running! With its gorgeous graphics, orchestral soundtrack, numerous racers, online multiplayer, and now even DLC with tracks from past entries in the series, “Mario Kart 8” is the ultimate in party racing games. No wonder it has sold 51 million copies and counting! Nintendo will have a tough time improving on both its great content and on its spectacular sales!
#6: “Super Mario Bros.” (1985)
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Mario may still be one of the biggest names in video games, if not the biggest, but one of his first games is still his best-selling. “Super Mario Bros.,” in addition to revolutionizing 2D platforming and being many kids’ first exposure to video gaming, is often praised with helping save the video game industry after its 1983 crash. Its sales were certainly helped by the fact that many NES units were sold with “Super Mario Bros.” packaged along with them. That, plus its numerous re-releases, have helped this genre-defining platformer sell around 58 million copies. That’s a lotta’ coins!
#5: “PUBG: Battlegrounds” (2017)
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While the model for battle royale games has shifted to free-to-play, “PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds”’ success is far from “unknown.” “PUBG” may no longer be the biggest name in battle royale games, but, because its biggest competitor has always been free, it remains the best-selling. 75 million copies have been sold thus far, with its free mobile version exceeding a billion downloads! “PUBG”’s cutthroat, addicting gameplay pits players against each other in an ever-shrinking map, with the goal to be the only player remaining. It’s a fun concept, and one which players were eager to pay to experience.
#4: “Wii Sports” (2006)
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The Wii was a definite game changer when it came out. The system illustrated that motion controls were not only viable, but fun for anyone to pick up and play with. “Wii Sports” is essentially proof of concept, allowing players to play a variety of sports games virtually and from their homes. It’s the Wii game that nearly everyone played – mostly because it came packaged with the Wii. Sure, it’s a great game, but when practically every Wii comes with it, it’s hardly surprising that “Wii Sports” “hit a home run” with over 82 million copies sold.
#3: “Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)
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We’re in the all timers of the all timers now! One of the most highly anticipated releases of any piece of content, “GTA V” broke all kinds of records, making a billion dollars in 3 days! Remember how we said we’d talk about the fastest selling launch? Yeah, this was it! The game didn’t just sell quickly, it sold like gangbusters! It sold 160 million copies! That’s almost twice the last entry! “GTA V” is an open world game so massive and definitive, it still doesn’t have a sequel almost a decade later! When it does finally get one, we could easily see it exceeding “GTA V” in sales.
#2: “Minecraft” (2011)
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It was only a matter of time. “Minecraft” is a juggernaut of video games. The ultimate sandbox game, “Minecraft” lets you make and do almost anything. Not only can you construct buildings and other creations galore, but there are also plenty of games within the game. It’s essentially an unlimited game of virtual building blocks, but with more structured challenges too. It’s become a cultural phenomenon, so the only surprising thing is that it hasn’t sold more! Even so, 238 million copies is nothing to sneeze at! If we’d restricted our entries to single games with no variants, “Minecraft” could very well have taken the top spot.
#1: “Tetris” (1984-)
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Simplicity often goes hand in hand with success and few games are as basic as “Tetris.” Arranging various blocks to form lines at an increasing rate is so simple, yet so addictive! If it isn’t the most widely played puzzle game, it’s certainly the bestselling! “Tetris” has been remade and ported to dozens of consoles for nearly 40 years, usually with few, if any, changes to its core gameplay. Because it’s so widespread, it has managed to sell at least 425 million copies! Until someone devises a better puzzle game or another existing game catches up, we don’t see how any game can stack up to “Tetris.”
