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Video games are big business. The industry itself now outstrips the movie and music industry combined, generating about USD$455 billion a year across the globe, according to Statista. That’s a lot of VBucks! While there are plenty of very popular games, we wondered what the best-selling games were – not just in the last few years, but ever since the medium kicked off.
Well, as it turns out, it’s harder to figure out than you’d expect. Video game developers and publishers don’t really like talking about how many copies of a game sold: they mostly talk in terms of sales and profit figures rather than quantities because that tends to be a more important metric to their own bottom lines as well as the confidence of their investors. How many units get sold usually gets announced in very irregular press releases, or is mentioned in an interview or off-handed remark, if it’s shared at all.
This makes it hard to get current numbers for how many units particular games sell. This also doesn’t really take ‘free-to-play’ games into account, which don’t really ‘sell’ units at all, and tend to measure success using concurrent player figures.
Best Selling Games of All Time
All that is to say that while the numbers we’re citing here come directly from publishers or developers, it’s entirely possible that every game on the list has already sold more than we’re listing here and they haven’t said anything about it. We’ll udpate the story should the list change, but for now, these are the best selling games of all time.
1. Minecraft
- Number sold: 300 million
- Release date: 17 May, 2009
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo WiiU, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, iPadOS
What a shock! To say that Minecraft has been one of the biggest breakout video games of all time would be an understatement, and it’s position here is testament to that. What started as a little block-breaking survival game out of Sweden has become absolutely massive – big enough that you’d be hard pressed to find someone that hasn’t heard of it. In 2025 we’re finally getting a Minecraft movie, for god’s sake, though to be fair that has probably missed the boat by about ten years.
So what makes Minecraft the best selling game of all time? Well, for one it’s available on just about every device, and isn’t all that demanding a game, meaning it’ll play well on essentially any device it can be downloaded on. Plus, thanks to its incredibly freeform structure, the game lends itself very well to content creation, meaning it has had essentially infinite free advertising. So many of YouTube’s biggest names have spent time playing Minecraft, and showing a game like this off doesn’t necessarily spoil the act of playing it: you’re not going to ruin the story for someone, or take away from their own explorative journey, as each world is generated randomly from its own seed in order to create new and interesting experiences for each playthrough.
Will you always start by punching dirt and trees? Yeah, probably, but the sky is the limit. The 300 million units sold cited here was directly confirmed by developer Mojang in 2023 for Minecraft’s 15th Anniversary.
2. Grand Theft Auto V
- Number sold: 210 million
- Release date: 17 September, 2013
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Rockstar’s golden goose, the Grand Theft Auto series has always been a big seller, but Grand Theft Auto V took the franchise into a whole new stratosphere. It married the series’ oddball humour and satirical worldbuilding with what was, at the time, an incredbily impressive and massive open world ripe for exploration. And, for the first time, the game introduced multiple characters with an interweaving narrative, wherein you jumped between the three ‘heroes’ in a sprawling tale of crime and treachery.
Sure, that’s all true, but what likely led to the game’s huge numbers and enduring popularity was the fact that it in order to play Grand Theft Auto Online – essentially a Grand Theft Auto MMO – you needed to buy the base GTAV game. Grand Theft Auto Online has been hugely popular for Rockstar, with this mode alone generating billions of dollars for the company since it launched.
Though Grand Theft Auto VI is on the way, we’re still not entirely sure how the online experience will fit in. Rumours suggest it might be sold separately from the base campaign, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
The 210 million units sold cited here was confirmed by Grand Theft Auto’s publisher Take-Two Interactive in its quarterly earnings report in early 2025.
3. Wii Sports
- Number sold: 82.9 million
- Release date: 19 November, 2006
- Platforms: Nintendo Wii
Unlike the top two games, which are available across dozens of platforms, and are still available to play and purchase today, Wii Sports is a bit different. It was a pack-in game for the Nintendo Wii when it launched back in 2006, and was also sold separately as part of Nintendo’s ‘Selects’ range. However, due to the nature of the game’s motion-control base gameplay, it’s locked to the Wii (and the WiiU, a weird sequel-console thing), and so it can’t really be reliably purchased new anymore.
In saying that, the fact that this game sold as many copies as it did within the 10-or-so years of life the Wii had in it is impressive. It was, and still is, the game you think of when you envision the Wii: grabbing the Wiimote and Nunchuck, setting yourself up infront of the TV and sensor set-up and playing some tennis or boxing against your family. Though the Nintendon Switch has gone on to eclipse the Wii, and it has its own motion-control based games as well, nothing has made the mark that Wii Sports did when it first dropped, and we’ll likely not see another game showcase the use-case for motion controls as well as this one did.
Pour one out for Wii Sports. Gone but not forgotten. The 82.9 million units sold here was confirmed directly by Nintendo.
4. Mario Kart 8 + Deluxe
- Number sold: 75.8 million
- Release date: 29 May, 2014
- Platforms: Nintendo WiiU, Nintendo Switch
In its original release form, Mario Kart 8 is a fantastic game that was unfortunately tethered to a console which didn’t set the world on fire. After the huge success of the Wii, the WiiU is largely considered a flop, and though the company turned things around for the insanely popular Switch, several great games unfortunately went unplayed by most people due to them being exclusive to a console few people owned.
Very early in the Switch lifecycle, though, Nintendo launched a Deluxe version of Mario Kart 8 on its handheld hybrid with a bunch of new courses, characters, and the addition of some great DLCs. With the massive install base of the Switch, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has gone on to be the consoles highest selling game, and for good reason. Like Wii Sports above, Mario Kart is a series that bridges the gap between generations, allowing young kids, teenagers and adults to all enjoy it together.
Plus, who doesn’t like throwing a blue shell to ruin your friends day?
The 75.8 million units sold here is a combination of figures confirmed directly by Nintendo for Mario Kart 8, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
5. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Number sold: 75 million
- Release date: 23 March, 2017
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS
When PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) launched in 2017, it more or less inspired the entire battle royale genre we know (and love) today. You, and a collection of 99 other players, are dropped into a single, massive zone and are given pretty clear instructions: be the last person standing.
You’ll duck, dive and dodge your way through point-of-interests, on the search for better gear to help you take out any other people you happen to come across. Like all Battle Royales, it’s a set-up that encourages camping, but the rapidly shrinking combat zone goes a long way in ensuring no one can hide in a bedroom for too long.
It’s a template that has been copied and expanded on in several other games, but PUBG delivers it in its most distilled version, and despite the fact that Fortnite has taken the crown of ‘biggest battle royale’, PUBG is regularly in the top games played on Steam at any given time.
Plus, while the game did cost money to access for the first five-or-so years of its life, in 2022 it became an entirely free-to-play title (probably to be better compete with Fortnite), so there’s likely even more people who have ‘purchased’ the game now.
The 75 million units sold figure here was confirmed to The Verge in an interview with PUBG publisher Krafton.
6. Red Dead Redemption 2
- Number sold: 70 million
- Release date: 26 October, 2018
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a massive, incredibly popular open-world made by Rockstar that comes bundled with its popular, MMO-like online mode?
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Rockstar recreated the same model it did with GTA 5 and GTA Online, though here Red Dead Online was eventually sold separately as well. That’s not to take away from the fact that, on its own, Red Dead Redemption 2 is very much worth playing. It’s one of the best games of the past few decades, delivering on the promise of an expanded, improved sequel to the already stellar Red Dead Redemption.
Here, rather than the former outlaw John Marsten of the original, you take up the role of Arthur Morgan as he travels the American West, doing all sorts of fun cowboy stuff like playing cards and throwing dynamite at Klan gatherings. I’m sure there’s more to it but that’s all I remember.
The 70 million units sold cited here was confirmed by Red Dead Redemption 2’s publisher Take-Two Interactive in its quarterly earnings report in early 2025.
7. Terraria
- Number sold: 60.7 million
- Release date: 16 May, 2011
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS
Terraria gets a bit of a bad wrap, I feel. For each person that swears by the game, there’s another talking about how it’s just a 2D Minecraft, but I don’t think that’s totally fair. Are they similar? In premise, yes, but in play the two games are entirely different and cater to different players.
In Terraria, you take on the role of an adventurer looking to survive in a block-based world: breaking down ingredients from the structures and natural world around them, and then pulling them back together through crafting in order to make better gear, or new ways forward. Exploration is a bit different here, in that, only having two dimensions means you can basically go left, right, or up and down. The underground, then, is a massive part of the game, and holds the majority of the riches you’ll be chasing.
It’s even better with friends, so team up and go digging. The 60.7 million sales figure cited here was announced by the team behind Terraria in October of 2024.
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Number sold: 60 million
- Release date: 11 November, 2011
- Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
It’s a meme at this point, but The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been re-released a lot in its decade-and-a-half of life. Between its original release, a Special Edition, an Anniversary Edition, and a VR version, there’s plenty of ways to get lost in the northern reaches of Tamriel.
In saying that, just because something has been launched on multiple platforms doesn’t always mean it’s a sure hit. Rather, Skyrim is on this list because it actually does sell well on every console it ends up on.
While Elder Scrolls and RPG purists prefer the series’ third outing, Morrowind, or in some cases the fourth, Oblivion, Skyrim was many people’s introduction to the Elder Scrolls world, and stepping back into it is like putting on a warm, janky blanket. For my part, I find myself tinkering around in Skyrim at least once a year, starting up a new playthrough with a new build with the goal of finally seeing the Dragonborn DLC. Instead, I get lost in the snowy wilderness of Skyrim for a few weeks, before shelving the game again for another year.
The 60 million units sold figure here is a combination of each version of the game, and was confirmed by game director Todd Howard in an interview with IGN.
9. Super Mario Bros.
- Number sold: 58 million
- Release date: 13 September, 1985
- Platforms: NES
Yes, the original Super Mario Bros. Back before there was a Yoshi, or really any of the broader Mario-universe’s characters (or most video game characters, now that I think of it), there was Super Mario Bros. This game delivers the classic Mario set-up: King Koopa has kidnapped Princess Toadstool, and Mario (and potentially Luigi) must save her.
It’s the quintessential video game, lauded for its precise controls and tight level design, and set the stage for literal decades of Nintendo dominance to come.
It’s also worth noting that the 58 million sold encapsulates the original run of the game, as well as a number of subsequent re-releases, such as on the GameBoy Colour and GameBoy Advance. Today, you can play Super Mario Bros. easily by using the Nintendo Switch Online subscription, or on pretty much every Nintendo console ever made.
10. Human Fall Flat
- Number sold: 55 million
- Release date: 22 July, 2016
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS
What’s that? You’ve never heard of Human Fall Flat? Neither had I, but it turns out this indie game has probably outsold most of your favourite games.
A physics-based puzzle game where you play as a squishy little guy trying to explore the world, and find their own way through each strange little roadblock they come up against. Really, that’s kind of it. There are more than 20 levels, and puzzles usually end up having multiple answers due to the game’s physics system. Need to get across a gap? Well, you could use a catapult to throw yourself across, or build a bridge out of a nearby plank of wood, or maybe use that plank to vault yourself across.
It’s very freeform, and rewards people that can think outside the box a bit. Plus, with the wonky animations and physics it makes for great streamer bait.
But how did it become one of the best-selling games of all time? Well, the game happened to launch in China in late 2020, priced at around 50 US cents, and absolutely exploded during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when people were stuck inside and had nothing else to do but play Human Fall Down. An absolute lightning-in-a-bottle moment, to be sure. The 55 million units sold figure here was confirmed by Human Fall Flat publisher Curve Digital in early 2025.
