Join today to claim your daily loot

The Best-Selling Video Games of All Time

1-20

Nazarii Verbitskiy

Gaming - August 16th 2026, 11:00 GMT+2

Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 cropped processed by imagy — 20. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) — Over 40 Million Copies Sold Across Versions

One blue hedgehog did what an army of mascots could not: make Sega look like a serious threat to Nintendo. Sonic the Hedgehog sold the Genesis through speed, bright attitude, and Green Hill Zone, perhaps gaming’s most overqualified first level. The original cartridge became a massive console pack-in, while decades of ports and paid mobile releases pushed the same adventure beyond 40 million sales. Those rings have now been collected on practically every screen with buttons—or a touchscreen pretending to have them. | © Sega

Hogwarts Legacy — 19. Hogwarts Legacy (2023) — Over 40 Million Copies Sold

A Harry Potter game without Harry Potter sounded risky until players stepped into their own robes. Hogwarts Legacy sold the fantasy of attending Hogwarts better than any adaptation before it, letting fans explore the castle, attend classes, and discover how quickly “responsible student” becomes “wand-wielding menace.” Avalanche Software’s lavish open world carried it far beyond franchise loyalists, while later releases expanded its audience across nearly every major platform. Forty million copies later, Warner Bros. had finally made the Hogwarts game players had imagined for decades. | © Warner Bros. Games

PAYDAY 2 — 18. Payday 2 (2013) — Over 40 Million Copies Sold

Bank robbery is supposed to end once the police arrive; in Payday 2, that is when the evening finally gets interesting. Its four-player heists thrive on plans collapsing into gunfire, drills malfunctioning at the worst moment, and one teammate insisting the disaster was “part of the strategy.” Starbreeze kept that formula alive through a staggering stream of missions, weapons, characters, and updates, turning a modest co-op shooter into a decade-spanning institution. More than 40 million sales prove crime can pay—provided everyone remembers their mask. | © Starbreeze Studios

All ghillied up — 17. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) — Over 41 Million Copies Sold

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare arrived with a familiar name and a very deliberate reset button. Infinity Ward traded the series’ increasingly futuristic machinery for grounded weapons, tense close-quarters missions, and Captain Price’s immaculate ability to make every briefing sound dangerous. Cross-platform multiplayer united a previously divided audience, while its technology and progression systems fed directly into the rise of Warzone. More than 41 million copies later, the reboot had done exactly what Activision needed: make annual Call of Duty feel like an event again. | © Activision

Cropped Call of Duty Black Ops III — 16. Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015) — 43 Million Copies Sold

The campaign was hardly Black Ops III’s strongest argument, but its multiplayer and Zombies modes refused to let anyone leave. Treyarch packed the game with fluid wall-running, specialist abilities, elaborate undead maps, and enough progression hooks to swallow entire weekends. Continued DLC support kept the community busy long after newer Call of Duty entries arrived, which is almost unnatural for a franchise trained to replace itself every November. Forty-three million copies suggest players cared much more about zombies than the campaign’s bewildering plot. | © Activision

Wii Fit — 15. Wii Fit / Wii Fit Plus (2007/2009) — 43.79 Million Copies Sold Combined

Nintendo somehow convinced tens of millions of people that standing on a plastic board counted as playing a console, and honestly, respect. Wii Fit transformed yoga, balance exercises, and daily weigh-ins into approachable mini-games, while Wii Fit Plus added routines and customization that made the package more useful. The Balance Board became an astonishingly successful accessory, even if many units eventually retired beneath a sofa. Combined sales of almost 43.8 million show how effectively the Wii expanded the definition of a player. | © Nintendo

Pokemon Red Green Blue Yellow — 14. Pokémon Red / Green / Blue / Yellow (1996–1998) — Approximately 47.5 Million Copies Sold Combined

Four versions, 151 creatures, and an entire schoolyard economy built around link cables: the first Pokémon generation was less a release than a global takeover. Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow turned collecting into compulsion, trading into social currency, and the humble Game Boy into Pikachu’s natural habitat. The games were mechanically simple but strategically sticky, with version exclusives ensuring that no child could complete the Pokédex alone. Roughly 47.5 million sales across the original editions and digital rereleases started a phenomenon that still prints money. | © Game Freak / Nintendo

Stardew Valley — 13. Stardew Valley (2016) — 50 Million Copies Sold

Eric Barone built Stardew Valley largely by himself, then watched his quiet farming RPG outsell productions staffed by thousands. The secret was never just planting parsnips: Pelican Town offers romance, mining, fishing, community restoration, and the dangerously persuasive promise that tomorrow will be the day you finally organize the farm. Generous updates and releases on nearly every platform kept welcoming new residents without sanding away its homemade personality. Fifty million copies later, Joja Corporation should probably admit defeat. | © ConcernedApe

Animal Crossing New Horizons — 12. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) — 50.29 Million Copies Sold

Released when much of the world was stuck indoors, Animal Crossing: New Horizons offered a deserted island, cheerful neighbors, and a mortgage somehow less stressful than real life. Its relaxed routines became a social lifeline, with players visiting friends, trading furniture, and staging events inside a game where the biggest emergency was an ugly turnip price. Nintendo’s long-tail sales carried it beyond its lockdown-era explosion, pushing it over 50 million and making it the Switch’s defining comfort game. Tom Nook remains undefeated. | © Nintendo

Human Fall Flat — 11. Human: Fall Flat (2016) — Over 55 Million Copies Sold

Human: Fall Flat asks players to solve straightforward environmental puzzles while controlling a character apparently assembled from wet laundry. That deliberate clumsiness turned every ledge, rope, and door into a potential comedy routine, especially once online multiplayer allowed entire groups to fail in formation. No Brakes Games supported it with new levels and ports instead of replacing it with annual sequels, letting word of mouth perform the heavy lifting. Selling over 55 million copies is remarkably graceful for a game built around falling on your face. | © No Brakes Games / Curve Games

Super mario bros — 10. Super Mario Bros. (1985) — Over 58 Million Copies Sold Across Ports and Rereleases

World 1-1 may be the most studied stretch of virtual ground ever designed, yet Super Mario Bros. still feels wonderfully direct: run right, avoid holes, distrust mushrooms until proven friendly. Nintendo’s platformer helped turn the NES into a household fixture and established a design language that thousands of games still borrow. The original cartridge sold over 40 million copies, with ports and rereleases lifting its broader total beyond 58 million. Mario has changed jobs constantly since then, but rescuing Peach remains his most profitable line of work. | © Nintendo

The Witcher 3 — 9. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) — Over 60 Million Copies Sold

Geralt’s hunt for Ciri gave The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt narrative urgency; everything distracting him from that hunt was so good that players happily postponed it for 100 hours. CD Projekt Red filled the Northern Kingdoms with morally messy quests, memorable monsters, and side characters written with more care than many games give their leads. Acclaimed expansions and a polished current-generation update extended its life well beyond launch. At over 60 million copies, a once-niche Polish fantasy saga has become a global RPG benchmark. | © CD Projekt Red

Terraria — 8. Terraria (2011) — Over 70 Million Copies Sold

Calling Terraria “2D Minecraft” was always a convenient shortcut and increasingly a terrible description. Re-Logic’s sandbox evolved into a colossal blend of crafting, exploration, boss hunting, and gear progression, with updates repeatedly adding enough material to embarrass paid expansions. Its modest price and ability to run on almost anything helped, but the real sales pitch was the absurd density hiding behind those cheerful pixels. More than 70 million copies have sold, and its repeatedly promised “final update” has outlived half the industry’s live-service roadmaps. | © Re-Logic

PUBG — 7. PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017) — Over 75 Million Copies Sold

Before battle royales became a genre requirement, PUBG: Battlegrounds made 100 players parachute onto an island and discover that frying pans were legitimate defensive equipment. Its rough edges almost became part of the appeal: every match mixed tense scavenging, messy firefights, and long stretches of paranoia before one brutally short ending. The game sold more than 75 million paid copies before adopting a free-to-play model, helping establish the blueprint later polished by countless competitors. The chicken dinner joke survived all of them. | © Krafton

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — 6. Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2014/2017) — 79.99 Million Copies Sold Combined

The Wii U did not sell especially well; Mario Kart 8 apparently took that personally. Nintendo carried the racer onto Switch as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, bundled its original DLC, repaired the battle mode, and later doubled the track count through the Booster Course Pass. The result became less a sequel candidate than a permanent party-game appliance, equally capable of entertaining children and ending adult friendships with one blue shell. Combined sales now sit one tiny turn away from 80 million, making this the longest victory lap in racing-game history. | © Nintendo

Wii Sports — 5. Wii Sports (2006) — 82.79 Million Copies Sold

Five sports, one remote, and several television screens placed in unnecessary danger—that was the Wii Sports experience. Bowling and tennis demonstrated motion controls without demanding a manual, allowing grandparents, children, and people who had never touched a gamepad to compete immediately. Its enormous total owes plenty to hardware bundles outside Japan and South Korea, but a pack-in only becomes a phenomenon if people actually keep playing it. Nearly 82.8 million copies made Nintendo’s friendly white box the center of countless living rooms. | © Nintendo

Red Dead Redemption 2 — 4. Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) — Over 87 Million Copies Sold

Red Dead Redemption 2 moves at the pace of a western novel and somehow sold like an action blockbuster. Rockstar’s obsessive detail turned Arthur Morgan’s final years with the Van der Linde gang into a world where shaving, hunting, conversation, and quiet rides carried as much weight as gunfights. Its deliberate rhythms repelled the impatient and swallowed everyone else for months. With over 87 million copies sold, this mournful cowboy epic has now outridden nearly every faster, louder game ever released. | © Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto V — 3. Grand Theft Auto V (2013) — Over 230 Million Copies Sold

Los Santos has survived three console generations, countless imitators, and more rereleases than anyone can comfortably explain. Grand Theft Auto V paired three playable criminals with Rockstar’s sharpest open-world playground, then GTA Online transformed that foundation into a constantly expanding social sandbox. Heists, role-playing servers, new vehicles, and the simple pleasure of causing avoidable chaos kept sales moving long after the story credits rolled. More than 230 million copies later, retirement seems less likely than another premium edition. | © Rockstar Games

Minecraft — 2. Minecraft (2011) — Over 350 Million Copies Sold

Minecraft gives players almost nothing resembling a traditional objective, then quietly steals thousands of hours from them. Mojang’s blocks support survival horror, architecture, engineering, multiplayer communities, education, and elaborate machines built by people who clearly understand redstone better than electricity. Constant updates and versions for nearly every useful device turned it from an indie curiosity into a shared creative language. With over 350 million copies sold, it is the undisputed best-selling individual video game—even if one famous stack of falling blocks complicates the headline. | © Mojang Studios

Tetris Effect Connected — 1. Tetris Across Licensed Versions (1984) — Over 520 Million Units Sold

No characters, no plot, no cinematic universe—just seven shapes and the dawning realization that the long piece will arrive immediately after it stops being useful. Alexey Pajitnov’s puzzle design crossed computers, consoles, handhelds, phones, and generations without losing its instant readability. The reported 520 million total combines numerous licensed Tetris releases rather than one continuous commercial edition, but the cultural achievement remains absurd. Four decades later, clearing four lines at once still delivers one of gaming’s cleanest little jolts of satisfaction. | © Enhance

1-20

Plenty of brilliant games achieve only modest sales. These titles did the exact opposite, breaking beyond the usual gaming crowd, conquering multiple console generations, and becoming names even non-players recognize. From blocky sandboxes to open-world crime sprees, the best-selling video games of all time prove that longevity can matter just as much as launch-day hype. Quality certainly helped—but so did ports, rereleases, bundles, and an almost supernatural refusal to leave the charts.

Facebook X Reddit WhatsApp Copy URL

Plenty of brilliant games achieve only modest sales. These titles did the exact opposite, breaking beyond the usual gaming crowd, conquering multiple console generations, and becoming names even non-players recognize. From blocky sandboxes to open-world crime sprees, the best-selling video games of all time prove that longevity can matter just as much as launch-day hype. Quality certainly helped—but so did ports, rereleases, bundles, and an almost supernatural refusal to leave the charts.