16 Best Selling Video Game Franchises of All Time

The 16 best selling video game franchises of all time are series that have stood the test of time, and then some, remaining best sellers for years and even decades. These series have adapted over the years and continued to thrive throughout several major changes in gaming technology and shifts in consumer preferences.

The gaming industry is heavily sequel-driven, with many of the most popular series having little downtime between games. As soon as one is popped out, work begins on the next; there’s not really any question of doing something else or trying something new. In fact some companies work on multiple games in a series at the same time, especially now that many of the top developers have also embraced bringing their games to mobile and handheld devices.

At this point, gaming is largely made up of a few dozen key series, which are rarely intruded upon on the sales charts by new IPs scrabbling for purchase at their own shot at becoming one of those popular series. A recent example of a new game that enjoyed success and has quickly been turned into a series is Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs.

However, more often than not, it’s established series that continue to rule the industry, making it an extreme challenge for other games to break through, especially given the length of time that many games eat out of their players’ lives, as well as their costs. Unlike movies, which require minimal time and monetary investments, there’s realistically only so many games a person is going to buy or have time to enjoy in any given year.

The best selling video games of 2016 illustrate this point well, with Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, and the usual suspects when it comes to the best selling sports video games: Madden, NBA 2K, and FIFA, all ranking among the best selling games of 2016 in the U.S. While there was a breakout hit, Overwatch, which was the most profitable video game of 2016, it was courtesy of Blizzard, which hadn’t released a game on consoles since Diablo III in 2012, and which has a huge cadre of loyal fans.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the 16 best selling video game franchises of all time and look at some of the successful games that have driven them to the top of the charts. We’ve used a variety of sources to gather the most up-to-date sales on every series, including VG Sales’ list of the best selling game franchises and VG Chartz. Head to the next page to begin the countdown.

To see more of gaming’s most successful games, don’t miss our list of the 12 Highest Grossing Video Games Of All Time, which includes online games.

16. Tom Clancy Series – 97 Million Copies Sold

Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy series of games kicks of our list, with just under 100 million copies sold. The Division has been the series’ most successful game so far, selling nearly 8 million copies. A few months after its release, it was announced that a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal was in development based on the game. Gyllenhaal, who also starred in the film adaption of another Ubisoft franchise, Prince of Persia, will produce the film alongside Ubisoft.

15. LEGO Series – 100 Million Copies Sold

Many of the recent LEGO games have been published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, which is a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., which itself is a division of Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), which is in the process of being acquired by AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T); phew. LEGO games have enjoyed broad success, with dozens of different titles selling at least 1 million copies. However, the series’ popularity has waned over the past decade, perhaps due to oversaturation. Recent games like LEGO Marvel’s Avengers and LEGO Worlds have failed to come close to the success of older entries.

14. Assassin’s Creed Series – 100 Million Copies Sold

Assassin’s Creed, another Ubisoft series, makes the list, cracking 100 million copies sold. It’s also one of the newer series on the list, having first appeared in 2007. The recent film adaptation of the series grossed $240 million at the box office, falling short of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’s take, but nonetheless being a success. Assassin’s Creed III is the series’ most successful game to date, selling over 12.5 million copies.

13. Madden Series – 119 Million Copies Sold

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:EA)‘s Madden series ranks 13th on the list of the 16 best selling video game franchises of all time, with 119 million copies sold. Despite the challenge of having to convince gamers to upgrade their version for the latest features year-in and year-out, the series continues to enjoy sustained success. Madden NFL 17 sold over 6 million copies, as Madden NFL 07 did a decade earlier.

12. Minecraft Series – 122 Million Copies Sold

The newest series on the list of the 16 best selling video game franchises of all time, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)‘s Minecraft debuted in 2011 on PC and in the middle of 2012 on consoles, and has sold over 120 million copies since then. The series’ eponymous title has appeared on nearly every gaming system and console, selling over 40 million copies. However, the bulk of the series’ sales come from mobile devices.

11. Final Fantasy Series – 132 Million Copies Sold

From the newest series on the list we come to one of the oldest, as Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy series ranks 11th with 132 million units sold. The series peaked in popularity during the PS1 and PS2 eras, with every game released on those consoles selling at least 5 million units and the three most successful games in the series appearing during that time (VII, VIII, and X). While Final Fantasy XIII sold over 7 million copies, its two sequels were two of the least successful games in the main series, with Lightning Returns selling less than 1.5 million copies. Final Fantasy XV has been a return to form for the franchise, selling over 5.5 million copies.

10. Sonic Series – 150 Million Copies Sold

Sega’s Sonic series has sold about 150 million copies, including the mega selling first game in the series, which was so successful partially because it was bundled with Sega’s consoles. Sonic has enjoyed less success recently, aside from the Sega-developed Mario & Sonic at the Olympics games, which admittedly owe a great deal of their success to former rival Mario.

9. Need for Speed Series – 153 Million Copies Sold

EA’s Need for Speed is the only racing game series to make the list of the 16 best selling video game franchises of all time. Need for Speed peaked with the two Underground games in the early-2000’s, which sold 18 million copies between them. Need for Speed is another popular gaming franchise which has released a movie adaptation, which grossed over $200 million. Need for Speed Payback, which is loaded with supercars, releases on November 10.

8. Tetris Series – 170 Million Copies Sold

Tetris is a prime example of how a simple concept can be extremely successful. The puzzle game has been released on virtually every major gaming platform and sold 170 million copies, despite the core gameplay being left largely unchanged over the years. One of the most controversial features was added to Tetris Worlds, an easy spin feature which allowed players to essentially hold the piece in place while they decided where to put it.

7. FIFA Series – 195 Million Copies Sold

FIFA’s sales figures were extremely outdated on most lists on the internet, which all cited the same 100 million figure that was first reported in 2010. According to VG Chartz’ data, the FIFA series has sold at least another 95 million copies since then, including last year’s FIFA 17, which sold over 16 million copies. FIFA 18 was released at the end of September, with no sales figures yet available; however, we can expect the series to cross 200 million in sales soon enough.

6. The Sims Series – 200 Million Copies Sold

Despite its success, EA’s The Sims series hasn’t gotten much love lately, though that’s about to change. The Sims 4 didn’t enjoy the commercial success that 3 did, selling just over 5 million copies, though it will finally be released on consoles later this month, which should bump its total measurably. A mobile version titled The Sims Mobile will also be released shortly after.

5. Wii Series – 203 Million Copies Sold

Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NTDOY)‘s Wii series of games, which includes Wii Sports, has sold over 200 million copies. Wii Sports’ inclusion in Nintendo Wii bundles is responsible for a hefty chunk of those sales, giving the game official sales of over 82 million copies. Several other Wii series games sold over 20 million copies, including Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play, and Wii Fit. Of course, with the series’ name unlikely to continue being used, its sales likely end here.

4. Grand Theft Auto Series – 253 Million Copies Sold

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTWO)‘s Grand Theft Auto series is an unstoppable behemoth, with GTA V selling an incredible 80 million copies, making it the best selling video game (not counting mobile sales) in history in terms of pure sales (not counting sales as part of a console bundle). Considering even the most popular games rarely top 20 million sales, 80 million really is an incredible feat. So while GTA only ranks 4th on this list, it’s hard to argue that it’s not the most popular video game series today.

3. Call of Duty Series – 270 Million Copies Sold

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI)‘s Call of Duty has surged past Grand Theft Auto again in sales, thanks to that series’ longer absences between games (or put differently, thanks to Activision spamming Call of Duty games). Black Ops 3 and Infinite Warfare have both been released since Grand Theft Auto V, with WW2 also having just been released, which will further stretch its lead over GTA. Black Ops 2 is the best selling game in the series, with over 27 million copies sold.

2. Pokemon Series – 296 Million Copies Sold

Nintendo’s Pokemon series is the most popular RPG series ever, with just under 300 million copies sold, more than double Final Fantasy’s sales. Pokemon became a phenomenon right from the start, with the Red/Blue generation of GameBoy games selling over 30 million copies. Pokemon is going strong to this day, with X/Y selling over 15 million copies on 3DS and Pokemon Go becoming the most successful mobile game in the world and a cultural phenomenon all its own.

1. Mario Series – 585 Million Copies Sold

To no one’s surprise, Nintendo’s Mario series tops the list of the 16 best selling video game franchises of all time, having sold nearly 600 million copies across dozens of games and spinoffs. Mario and Nintendo are often credited with saving the gaming industry after it crashed in the early-80’s under the weight of too many cruddy Atari games, so it’s fitting that the series went on to become gaming’s most iconic and successful one. Several Mario games came bundled with various Nintendo consoles at times, which did inflate their sales, including the 40-million-plus selling Super Mario Bros. on the NES, but it’s likely the series would deservedly be on top of this list regardless.

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