This is a list of video game franchises that have sold or shipped at least twenty million copies. Unless otherwise stated, numbers indicate worldwide units sold, ordered alphabetically whenever two or more list the same amount. The exception are the ones specifying shipments, which have lower precedence than others listing sales.
Franchise sales include expansion packs even though they are not considered full video games. Free-to-play game downloads (including free mobile games) and microtransactions should not figure into sales or shipment figures. For video game franchises that have generated the highest overall media revenue (from games and other media and merchandise), see the list of highest-grossing media franchises.
For best-selling individual video games, see the list of best-selling video games. The sales figures given below also do not include arcade video game sales, which can be found at the list of highest-grossing arcade games.
The Mario franchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time, with over 879 million units sold worldwide.
| Original release date | scope=col style="width:33.3%;" | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | Mario | July 9, 1981 | million
|
| Mario first appeared in 1981 in the original Donkey Kong[2] and also appeared in the 1982 game Donkey Kong Jr., before starring in Mario Bros., followed by the Super Mario series of platform games. The character was created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and has since become the official mascot of Nintendo, owner of the trademark. The games are developed by various Nintendo studios. The Mario franchise has expanded into other game genres, including racing, sports, party, puzzle, and role-playing games. It has also found success in numerous other media, including three animated television series, comic books, a manga, a live-action film and an animated film and other merchandise. It is currently the best-selling video game franchise of all time. It is also the oldest in the 100 million+ group. | |||
| scope=row | Tetris | January 29, 1988 | 495 million
|
| Tetris is a falling-blocks puzzle video game created by Soviet game designer Alexey Pajitnov in 1985. Tetris variants were later commercialized and released on a vast spectrum of platforms, from video game consoles and computers to mobile devices and calculators, with the version bundled with the Game Boy selling over 35 million units, while various mobile games had seen over 425 million paid downloads by 2014.[5] It is the most successful video game franchise to originate from Russia and the former Soviet Union, the best-selling puzzle video game series and the best-selling video game franchise not owned by Nintendo. | |||
| scope=row | Pokémon | February 27, 1996 | 480 million[6] |
| Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri, founder and president of Game Freak, in 1996 as a role-playing video game for the Game Boy handheld game console, soon turning into one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise as a whole includes an anime series, various manga, a trading card game, toys, merchandise, books, over twenty films (one of the highest-grossing animated film series), and other media. It is produced by The Pokémon Company, which is a joint venture by the three companies holding the rights to Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, while Nintendo owns the trademark. | |||
| scope=row | Grand Theft Auto | November 28, 1997 | 430 million[7] [8] |
| Grand Theft Auto is an open-world action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly; the later titles of which were created by brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, and consists of eleven stand-alone games and four expansion packs. Grand Theft Auto is the most successful video game franchise originating from the United Kingdom and is the best-selling action-adventure and open-world series. The series's best-selling game, Grand Theft Auto V, is the second best-selling video game of all time with around 200 million copies shipped. | |||
| scope=row | Call of Duty | October 29, 2003 | 425 million[9] |
| Call of Duty is a series of first-person shooter video games. The series is published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward, Gray Matter Studios, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software, Neversoft, High Moon Studios, and Beenox. With new games in the series released annually to blockbuster-level sales, the series is verified by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling first-person shooter game series. It is also the most successful video game franchise created in the United States. In addition to main series sales, there have been over 500 million downloads of the mobile spin-off . | |||
| scope=row | FIFA | December 15, 1993 | 325 million[10] |
| FIFA is a series of association football-based sports video games, released yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand. It is the first to have an official license from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football. | |||
| scope=row | Minecraft | November 18, 2011 | 300 million[11] |
| Minecraft is a sandbox and survival video game originally created by Swedish game designer Markus "Notch" Persson and developed by Mojang. Originally a computer indie game made using Java, it has since been ported to game consoles and mobile devices. It was bought by Microsoft Studios in November 2014. It is the most successful video game franchise to originate in Sweden and the single best-selling game of all time. | |||
| Original release date | scope=col style="width:33.3%;" | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | Wii | November 19, 2006 | 215.06 million |
| The Wii series of simulation video games was created for the Wii console, starting in 2006. The first game in the series, Wii Sports, was bundled with the original Wii console and is one of the best-selling games of all time. | |||
| scope=row | Lego | December 1995 | 200 million[12] |
| The Lego franchise of video games includes many different games, including original games as well as several adaptations based on licensed properties including DC Comics, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Marvel Comics, and Star Wars. | |||
| scope=row | The Sims | February 4, 2000 | 200 million[13] |
| The Sims is a series of life simulation games primarily for personal computers but later released for game consoles. It was created by American game designer Will Wright, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The series consists of four main games and a number of compilations and expansion packs. | |||
| scope=row | Assassin's Creed | November 13, 2007 | 200 million[14] |
| Assassin's Creed is an action-adventure stealth video game franchise created by Patrice Désilets. The franchise is developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft, and includes thirteen mainline releases and several spin-offs. It has expanded into a media franchise spanning comic books, encyclopedias, novels, and a live-action film. | |||
| scope=row | Final Fantasy | December 18, 1987 | [15] |
| is a Japanese fantasy media franchise created by Japanese video game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix. The franchise encompasses sixteen signature role-playing video games alongside a number of spin-off games, motion pictures, and many other consumer products and interactive media. | |||
| scope=row | Sonic the Hedgehog | June 23, 1991 | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game franchise created and owned by Sega. Starring its namesake character Sonic the Hedgehog, created by Japanese programmer Yuji Naka and character designer Naoto Ohshima, it has expanded into a media franchise spanning several animated television series, comic books, and a live-action film series. | |||
| scope=row | Resident Evil | March 22, 1996 | [16] |
| , known in Japan as Biohazard, is a Japanese horror media franchise, created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara, developed by Capcom. It consists of a survival horror video game series, along with comic books, novelizations, it has spanning into a live action films series, animated films, an animated television series, a live action television series, Japanese plays and a variety of collectibles, including action figures. | |||
| scope=row | The Legend of Zelda | February 21, 1986 | |
| is an action-adventure game franchise created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Capcom, Vanpool, and Grezzo. The gameplay incorporates action-adventure and elements of action role-playing games. | |||
| scope=row | Need for Speed | December 1994 | [17] |
| Need for Speed is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts, and has been developed by multiple companies over the years such as EA Black Box and Criterion Games. There are over 25 games in the series, and a live-action film. | |||
| scope=row | NBA 2K | November 10, 1999 | 148million |
| NBA 2K is a series of basketball sports games. Originally published by Sega under the label Sega Sports, it is now published by 2K Sports. All of the games in the series have been developed by Visual Concepts. | |||
| scope=row | Madden NFL | June 1, 1988 | [18] |
| Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The series is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a color commentator and Super Bowl-winning head coach. | |||
| scope=row | Star Wars | May 1983 | 124.371 million |
| The Star Wars series of video games is part of the sci-fi fantasy media franchise of the same name. Series within it include Lego Star Wars, , Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and . | |||
| scope=row | eFootball | July 21, 1995 | [19] |
| Pro Evolution Soccer (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan) is a series of association football video games developed and published by Konami. | |||
| scope=row | Monster Hunter | September 21, 2004 | [20] [21] |
| Monster Hunter is a Capcom franchise that contains a core series of action role-playing games, numerous spin-offs, as well as a live-action and animated film. Set in a fantasy universe inhabited by numerous, ferocious giant monsters, players become a Hunter who must take quests to slay them, or capture them for research purposes. | |||
| Original release date | scope=col style="width:33.3%;" | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | WWE 2K | February 29, 2000 | 95 million[22] |
| WWE 2K (formerly WWF SmackDown | and WWE SmackDown vs. Raw) is a series of professional wrestling video games released by 2K Sports (formerly by THQ). The games were formerly developed by Japanese game developer Yuke's. | ||
| scope=row | Tomb Raider | November 15, 1996 | 95 million[23] |
| Tomb Raider is series of action-adventure video games, formerly developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, it is now developed by Crystal Dynamics and is owned by Embracer Group. The series focuses on the adventures of fictional British archaeologist Lara Croft. The franchise has also spanned films, comic books, novels and animated series. | |||
| scope=row | Red Dead | May 4, 2004 | |
| Red Dead is a series of Western-themed action-adventure games published by Rockstar Games. Originally developed by Capcom, Rockstar eventually acquired the rights and expanded on it. | |||
| scope=row | Gran Turismo | December 23, 1997 | 90 million[24] |
| (Italian for "grand tourer" or "grand touring"), abbreviated GT, is a series of racing video games created by Kazunori Yamauchi for the PlayStation line of game systems. Developed by Polyphony Digital, Gran Turismo games are intended to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles, nearly all of which are licensed reproductions of real-world automobiles. Since the franchise's debut in December 1997, over 90 million units have been sold worldwide across the history of PlayStation systems, making it the highest-selling video game franchise exclusive to PlayStation. | |||
| scope=row | Battlefield | September 10, 2002 | 88.7 million[25] [26] [27] |
| Battlefield is a series of first-person shooter video games developed by EA DICE and Visceral Games, published by Electronic Arts. The games contain wide-ranging battles across expansive maps, with a focus on vehicle-based warfare. | |||
| scope=row | Dragon Quest | May 27, 1986 | |
| , known as Dragon Warrior in North America until the 2005 release of , is a series of Japanese role-playing video games created by Yuji Horii, with character design by manga artist Akira Toriyama and published by Square Enix (formerly Enix). | |||
| scope=row | Wizarding World | November 15, 2001 | 85.79 million |
| Based on the Harry Potter novels by British writer J. K. Rowling, games in the series have been published by Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. | |||
| scope=row | Borderlands | October 20, 2009 | |
| Borderlands is a series of action role-playing first-person shooter video games created by Gearbox Software. The franchise has spawned a live action film, and takes place in a dystopian sci-fi universe where powerful "Vault Hunters" seek Vaults containing priceless artifacts left by the Eridian alien race. | |||
| scope=row | Mortal Kombat | October 8, 1992 | 83 million[28] |
| Mortal Kombat is a series of fighting games created in 1992 by Ed Boon and John Tobias, primarily having a reputation for high levels of violent content. The original game spawned over ten sequels with several action-adventure spin-offs. It is currently the best-selling fighting game franchise. The franchise has also spanned a live-action film series, comic book adaptations, and various animated films. | |||
| scope=row | Tom Clancy's | August 21, 1998 | 82 million[29] [30] |
| Includes sales from Tom Clancy–branded games developed by Ubisoft, including Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, and The Division. | |||
| scope=row | Halo | November 15, 2001 | 81 million[31] [32] [33] |
| Halo is a science fiction, predominantly first-person shooter video game series created by Bungie and published by Xbox Game Studios. It has been adapted into over thirty novels, several comic series, graphic novels, numerous action figures, and an anime series. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and the Covenant, a theocratic alien alliance. After Bungie gained independence from Microsoft in 2007, 343 Industries took control of the franchise. It is the highest-selling video game franchise exclusive to Xbox. The franchise has spanned a live action television series. | |||
| scope=row | Just Dance | November 17, 2009 | 80 million[34] |
| Just Dance is a series of dance and music video games published by Ubisoft. It also includes games outside of the name Just Dance, such as . It is the best-selling dance / music game franchise. | |||
| scope=row | Animal Crossing | April 14, 2001 | |
| , is a social simulation game series developed and published by Nintendo. The human player character moves to a small village inhabited by humanoid animals, and seeks to repay their mortgage while living a real time virtual life synced to the system clock. | |||
| scope=row | The Witcher | October 26, 2007 | [35] |
| The Witcher is a series of action role-playing games based on the series of novels of the same name by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher takes place in a medieval fantasy world and follows the story of Geralt of Rivia, one of the few remaining "witchers" – traveling monster hunters for hire wielding unnatural powers. The franchise has spanned a live action television series. | |||
| scope=row | Worms | November 17, 1995 | [36] |
| Worms is a series of artillery tactical video games developed by British company Team17. In these games, small platoons of anthropomorphic worms battle each other across a deformable landscape with the objective being to become the sole surviving team. The games are noted for their cartoony animation and extensive use of surrealism and slapstick humour. | |||
| scope=row | Super Smash Bros. | January 21, 1999 | 75.21 million |
| is a series of platform fighting games published by Nintendo and created by Masahiro Sakurai. It features characters and elements from various Nintendo franchises and later installments also include third-party franchises as well. It is currently the most successful Japanese fighting game franchise. It is also the best selling crossover video game series of all time. | |||
| scope=row | Civilization | September 1991 | 70 million |
| Civilization is a series of turn-based strategy video games. Sid Meier developed the first game in the series and has had creative input for most of the rest. The basic gameplay functions are similar throughout the series, namely, guiding a civilization on a macro-scale from prehistory to the present day. | |||
| scope=row | Dragon Ball | September 27, 1986 | |
| was created by Akira Toriyama in 1984 and is composed primarily of multiple manga series, numerous anime series, a collection of animated feature films, video games, and a collectible trading card game, as well as other collectibles like action figures. | |||
| scope=row | God of War | March 22, 2005 | |
| God of War is an action-adventure game franchise created by David Jaffe. All of the main games have been developed by Santa Monica Studio, with the other entries being done by Ready at Dawn and Javaground/SOE-LA. The multimedia franchise is loosely based on Greek and Norse mythology. The central story revolves around the Spartan warrior Kratos' quest for vengeance (Greek games) and later redemption (Norse games). Other media includes comic books, novels, toys, and an upcoming television series. | |||
| scope=row | The Oregon Trail | December 3, 1971 | 65 million[37] |
| The Oregon Trail is a series of educational computer games that began with the first edition originally developed by Don Rawitsch, Bill Heinemann, and Paul Dillenberger in 1971 and produced by the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) in 1974. The original game was designed to teach school children about the realities of 19th-century pioneer life on the Oregon Trail. The player assumes the role of a wagon leader guiding a party of settlers from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon's Willamette Valley via a covered wagon in 1848. | |||
| scope=row | Pac-Man | June 1980 | 63 million |
| is a Japanese video game franchise currently owned and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Namco. The eponymous first entry was released in arcades in 1980 by Namco during the golden age of arcade video games. Most games in the franchise are maze chase games however it has delved into other genres such as platform, racing and sports. | |||
| scope=row | Metal Gear | July 13, 1987 | |
| is a series of stealth games created by Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. The first game, Metal Gear, was released in 1987 for the MSX. The franchise also includes a novel, radio drama, comic books, and a toy line. The games generally revolve around the story of special forces operative Solid Snake, and his missions to find and destroy the mecha superweapons known as Metal Gears. | |||
| scope=row | The Elder Scrolls | March 25, 1994 | 58.5 million[38] |
| The Elder Scrolls (abbreviated TES) is an action role-playing and open world video game series by Bethesda Softworks. Each game takes place on the fictional continent of Tamriel, inhabited by many high fantasy races, and often involves a chosen hero who must confront a great impending threat. | |||
| scope=row | Spider-Man | 1982 | 58 million |
| There have been numerous video games featuring the popular Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man have been released. To date, Spider-Man has made appearances on over 15 gaming platforms, which also includes mobile games on mobile phones. | |||
| scope=row | Tekken | December 9, 1994 | [39] |
| is a series of fighting games produced by Katsuhiro Harada, developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment (formerly by Namco). Originally exclusive to arcades, games have since been released for consoles, personal computers and mobile devices. | |||
| scope=row | Street Fighter | August 30, 1987 | |
| is a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. The series has grown into a media franchise covering comic books, anime series and movies. Its best-selling release, Street Fighter II is credited with establishing many of the conventions of the one-on-one fighting genre. | |||
| scope=row | Bejeweled | May 30, 2001 | 50 million[40] |
| Bejeweled is a series of puzzle video games first developed as a browser game by PopCap Games in 2001. | |||
| scope=row | Far Cry | March 23, 2004 | 50 million[41] |
| Far Cry is a first-person shooter video game franchise originally developed by Crytek, later by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. | |||
| scope=row | Diablo | January 3, 1997 | 50 million[42] [43] |
| Diablo is an action role-playing hack and slash dungeon crawler video game series developed by Blizzard North and published and later developed by Blizzard Entertainment. | |||
| scope=row | Crash Bandicoot | September 9, 1996 | 71 million |
| Crash Bandicoot is a series of platform games originally created and developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for the PlayStation. | |||
| scope=row | Destiny | September 9, 2014 | 50 million |
| Destiny is an online-only multiplayer first-person shooter video game series developed by Bungie and previously published by Activision. | |||
| Original release date | scope=col style="width:33.3%;" | Sales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | Kirby | April 27, 1992 | 48 million |
| is a series of platform games developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. The series centers around the adventures of a pink alien hero named Kirby. | |||
| scope=row | Uncharted | November 20, 2007 | 44.02 million[44] [45] [46] |
| Uncharted is a series of action-adventure and third-person shooter video games developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Most games follow the adventures of treasure hunter Nathan Drake. The franchise has spanned a live-action film series | |||
| scope=row | BioShock | August 21, 2007 | 43 million |
| BioShock is a retrofuturistic video game series published by 2K Games and developed by several studios, including Irrational Games which created the series. It is considered a spiritual successor to the System Shock series, on which many of Irrational's team had worked previously. The franchise has spanned a live action film. | |||
| scope=row | Mega Man | December 17, 1987 | 42 million[47] |
| Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a series of video games created by Capcom, starring a series of characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man". | |||
| scope=row | Guitar Hero | November 8, 2005 | 40 million[48] |
| Guitar Hero is a series of music and rhythm video games published by RedOctane and Activision, and developed by Harmonix Music Systems from 2005 to 2007 before development duties of the series were transferred to Neversoft. | |||
| scope=row | Gears of War | November 7, 2006 | 40 million[49] |
| Gears of War is a video game franchise created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The franchise consists of six third-person shooter video games, which has also been supplemented by comics and novels. It focuses on the conflict between humanity, the subterranean reptilian hominids known as the Locust Horde, and their mutated counterparts, the Lambent. | |||
| scope=row | Medal of Honor | November 11, 1999 | 39 million |
| Medal of Honor is a series of first-person shooter games with most of the games set during World War II. The series is published by Electronic Arts. | |||
| scope=row | Megami Tensei | September 11, 1987 | |
| Megami Tensei is a franchise of role-playing video games created by Atlus and owned by Sega. It includes the Persona sub-series. | |||
| scope=row | Fallout | September 30, 1997 | 38 million[50] |
| Fallout is a series of post-apocalyptic role-playing video games. It was created by Interplay Entertainment and later developed by Bethesda Game Studios and Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. | |||
| scope=row | Total War | June 13, 2000 | [51] |
| Total War is a series of strategy video games developed by Creative Assembly and owned and published by Sega for personal computers. Its games combine turn-based strategy and resource management, with real-time tactical control of battles. | |||
| scope=row | Kingdom Hearts | March 28, 2002 | 36million[52] |
| is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (previously by Square) and is owned by The Walt Disney Company. It is the result of a collaboration between Disney Interactive Studios and Square Enix, and is under the direction of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square Enix character designer. | |||
| scope=row | Counter-Strike | November 8, 2000 | 35.7 million |
| Counter-Strike is a series of tactical first-person shooter games that began as a mod for the game Half-Life. The series has since been developed by Valve, and published by Sierra Entertainment and Valve. | |||
| scope=row | Dark Souls | September 22, 2011 | |
| Dark Souls is a series of action role-playing games developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. | |||
| scope=row | NBA Live | October 1994 | 35 million[53] |
| NBA Live is a series of basketball video games developed and published by EA Sports annually since 1995. | |||
| scope=row | Batman | 1986 | 35 million[54] |
| Batman is a series of video games based on the DC Comics character of the same name. | |||
| scope=row | Football Manager | November 5, 2004 | [55] |
| Football Manager is a series of association football management simulation games developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game began its life in 1992 as Championship Manager; however, following the break-up of their partnership with original publishers Eidos Interactive, Sports Interactive lost the naming rights and re-branded the game Football Manager with their new publishers Sega. | |||
| scope=row | Brain Age | May 19, 2005 | [56] |
| Brain Age, also known as Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, is a series of video games developed and published by Nintendo, based on the work of Ryuta Kawashima. | |||
| scope=row | Horizon | February 28, 2017 | 32.7 million[57] |
| Horizon is a series of action role-playing games developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series follows the adventures of Aloy, a young huntress in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past. | |||
| scope=row | Naruto | January 2009 | |
| Naruto is a series of mostly fighting games based on Japanese anime and manga franchise created by Masashi Kishimoto and its video games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment | |||
| scope=row | Saints Row | August 29, 2006 | 32 million[58] |
| Saints Row is an action-adventure video game series created by Volition. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure and driving and has gained controversy for its adult nature and violent themes. The games in the series are written as comedies that feature popular culture homages and parodies, as well as self-referential humor. | |||
| scope=row | Gundam | 1983 | 30.9 million |
| is a long-running anime series featuring giant robots or mecha, created by animation studio Sunrise in 1979. Video games based on the franchise have been released since 1983; games in the series are currently published by Namco Bandai Games. | |||
| scope=row | Splatoon | May 29, 2015 | |
| Splatoon is a franchise of third person shooters created by Nintendo. The series centers around fictional cephalopods known as Inklings and Octolings – based on squids and octopuses respectively – which can transform between humanoid and cephalopod forms at will. | |||
| scope=row | The Last of Us | June 14, 2013 | 30 million[59] |
| The Last of Us is a series of action-adventure games developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The games revolve around teenager Ellie and her struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic United States, after society collapsed because of a fungal infection that transforms humans into monster-like creatures. The franchise has spanned a live action television series. | |||
| scope=row | Devil May Cry | August 23, 2001 | |
| Devil May Cry is a hack-and-slash action-adventure video game series developed and published by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya. | |||
| scope=row | Tony Hawk's | September 30, 1999 | 30 million[60] |
| Tony Hawk's is a skateboarding video game series endorsed by the eponymous American professional skateboarder. The series was created by game developer Neversoft and was published by Activision from 1999 to 2015, Maple Media in 2016, and Activision again in 2020. | |||
| scope=row | Command & Conquer | September 26, 1995 | 30 million[61] |
| Command & Conquer is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game Dune II and introducing trademarks followed in the rest of the series. | |||
| scope=row | James Bond | 1982 | 30 million[62] |
| James Bond is a media franchise starring the titular James Bond, a fictional British agent, created in 1952 by British writer Ian Fleming. There are over 20 video games based on the franchise and it has been published by several companies including Nintendo and Electronic Arts. The license is currently held by Activision. The best-known game in the franchise is GoldenEye 007, developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. | |||
| scope=row | Tales | December 15, 1995 | |
| The series is a media franchise of role-playing video games created by Wolf Team and formerly published by Namco. The series is currently developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. | |||
| scope=row | The Walking Dead | April 24, 2012 | [63] |
| The Walking Dead is an episodic adventure game series developed and published by Telltale Games, based on The Walking Dead comic book series. | |||
| scope=row | Nintendogs | April 21, 2005 | 27.95 million[64] [65] |
| Nintendogs is a real-time pet simulation video game series developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS handheld game consoles, originally released in three versions, plus two additional versions, all differing only in the starting available dogs to play with. | |||
| scope=row | Half-Life | November 19, 1998 | 27.6 million |
| Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter games developed and published by Valve. The games combine shooting combat, puzzles, and storytelling. | |||
| scope=row | Ratchet & Clank | November 4, 2002 | 26 million[66] |
| Ratchet & Clank is a series of platform and third-person shooter games. The franchise was created and developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation consoles. The franchise has spanned an animated film. | |||
| scope=row | Rayman | September 1, 1995 | 26 million |
| Rayman is a franchise of platform video games, published by Ubisoft. Created in 1995 by French graphic artist Michel Ancel, the main character of the series, Rayman, became an official mascot of its publisher, Ubisoft. The Rayman series does not include the Raving Rabbids series. The franchise has spanned an animated television series. | |||
| scope=row | Power Pros | March 1994 | |
| is a baseball video game series created by Konami. It is a traditionally Japan-only series, and is known for its super deformed characters and arcade-style gameplay. It has several spin-off series, including Professional Baseball Spirits which are more realistic simulation games. | |||
| scope=row | Dying Light | January 27, 2015 | [67] |
| Dying Light is a survival horror video game developed by Techland and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. | |||
| scope=row | Tiger Woods PGA Tour | 1998 | 25 million[68] |
| Tiger Woods PGA Tour is a series of golf video games developed and published by Electronic Arts and later their EA Sports sub-label, featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among others on the PGA Tour. | |||
| scope=row | Age of Empires | October 26, 1997 | 25 million[69] |
| Age of Empires is a series of historical real-time strategy video games originally developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios. | |||
| scope=row | Mystery Dungeon | September 19, 1993 | |
| Mystery Dungeon is a franchise mixing roguelike and role-playing, created and owned by Spike Chunsoft. Since 1993, the franchise had numerous crossovers and, in 1995, the original Shiren the Wanderer sub-series. | |||
| scope=row | Petz | 1995 | 24 million |
| Petz (Dogz and Catz) is a series of games in which the player can adopt, raise, care for and breed their own virtual pets. | |||
| scope=row | Yu-Gi-Oh! | July 1998[70] | 21.8 million |
| is a series of video games based on the Japanese anime and manga franchise created by Kazuki Takahashi. Games in the series have been developed and published by Konami. | |||
| scope=row | Metroid | August 6 1986 | |
| Metroid is a sci-fi action-adventure franchise developed and published by Nintendo that revolves around Samus Aran, an intergalactic bounty hunter raised by aliens after her home was destroyed by the nefarious Space Pirate leader Ridley. The original Metroid was a genre pioneer, and Super Metroid went on to establish the Metroidvania genre alongside Castlevania. The latest release in the franchise has been Metroid Prime Remastered, a remake of Metroid Prime. Metroid Dread is currently the best-selling Metroid game, at nearly 3 million sales. | |||
| scope=row | Like a Dragon | December 8, 2005 | [71] |
| , formerly known outside of Asia as Yakuza,[72] is a Japanese video game franchise created, owned, and published by Sega. The franchise incorporates elements of the action-adventure, beat 'em up, and role-playing genres. The storyline premise for each franchise installment is typically a crime drama, with plot lines inspired by yakuza films and pre-millennial Japanese crime dramas. | |||
| scope=row | Microsoft Flight Simulator | November 1982 | 21 million[73] |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator is a series of amateur flight simulation video games published by Microsoft. | |||
| scope=row | Dynasty Warriors | February 28, 1997 | 21 million[74] |
| is a series of tactical action video games created by Koei which began as a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, based loosely around the Chinese epic of the same name. | |||
| scope=row | Imagine | February 21, 2007 | 21 million |
| Imagine is a series of simulation video games published by Ubisoft, aimed primarily at girls aged 6 to 14 released from 2007 onwards. | |||
| scope=row | Super Robot Wars | October 3, 1989 | 20.24 million |
| Super Robot Wars, known in Japan as Super Robot Taisen, is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Starting out as a spinoff of the Compati Hero series, the main feature of the franchise is having a story that crosses over several popular mecha anime, manga and video games, allowing characters and mecha from different titles to team up or battle one another. | |||
| scope=row | Prince of Persia | October 3, 1989 | 20 million |
| Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner, originally developed and published by Broderbund, then The Learning Company, and currently by Ubisoft. The franchise is built around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous prince. and a live-action film. | |||
| scope=row | Castlevania | September 26, 1986 | 20 million[75] |
| Castlevania is an action-adventure gothic horror video game series developed and published by Konami. The franchise has also expanded into other media, including comic books, an animated TV series and several spin-off video games. It revolves around successive generations of vampire hunters and their attempts to stop Count Dracula from resurrecting and conquering the world. | |||
| scope=row | Frogger | June 5, 1981 | 20 million[76] |
| Frogger is video game franchise created and developed by Konami and originally published by Sega and Gremlin Industries for arcade in 1981; it is currently owned, developed, and published by Konami. Frogger has seen numerous sequels and re-releases for a number of platforms including personal computers, video game consoles, and mobile devices. The given sales figure does not include arcade game sales. | |||
| scope=row | J.B. Harold | August 1986 | 20 million[77] [78] |
| J.B. Harold is a series of mystery adventure games. It began with J.B. Harold Murder Club, released by Riverhillsoft for the NEC PC-98 computer in 1986, and the series has since been released on various platforms. | |||
| scope=row | Lemmings | February 14, 1991 | 20 million[79] |
| Lemmings is a puzzle video game, originally developed by DMA Design (now Rockstar North) for the Amiga, and owned by Psygnosis (now Sony Computer Entertainment Liverpool) who published it in 1991. | |||
| scope=row | Simple | 1998 | 20 million[80] |
| The Simple series is a number of budget-priced video games, published by Japanese company D3 Publisher and developed by a variety of companies, covering many systems. | |||
| scope=row | SingStar | May 21, 2004 | 20 million[81] |
| SingStar is a competitive karaoke video game series for the PlayStation family, published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and developed by London Studio. Fifteen English-language installments of the series have been released for the PlayStation 2, with recent versions also released for the PlayStation 3. | |||
| scope=row | SpongeBob SquarePants | March 15, 2001 | 20 million[82] |
| SpongeBob SquarePants is an American animated television series and media franchise created in 1996 by Stephen Hillenburg. The games were formerly published by THQ and Activision; it is currently published by THQ's successor THQ Nordic. | |||
| scope=row | Spyro | September 10, 1998 | 20 million[83] |
| Spyro is a series of platform video games which feature the protagonist Spyro, a dragon. Originally owned by Universal Pictures and developed by Insomniac Games, the franchise has changed hands and developers numerous times before being acquired by Activision in 2008. The series spawned the toys-to-life spin-off, Skylanders. | |||
| scope=row | Mass Effect | November 20, 2007 | 20 million[84] [85] [86] |
| Mass Effect is a science fiction third-person shooter, action role-playing video games series developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. | |||
| scope=row | SimCity | February 2, 1989 | 20 million[87] [88] |
| SimCity is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series was published by Maxis, now a division of Electronic Arts. | |||
| scope=row | Watch Dogs | May 27, 2014 | 20 million[89] |
| Watch Dogs is an action-adventure game franchise developed and published by Ubisoft. The franchise has spanned comic books, novelizations, and animated television series. | |||
"Fallout and Fallout 2, which are considered to be two of the best RPGs released in recent years, sold approximately 144,000 and 123,000 copies, respectively, in PC Data's tracked data. Very good sales, especially since the overall figures are likely double those amounts, but considerably below the sales volumes for true blockbuster titles." [May 2000]
"Fallout 3 (2008) surpassed Oblivion, selling 12.4 million copies. Fallout: New Vegas (2010) — the only game on this list not actually developed by Bethesda Game Studios — performed just slightly lower, selling 11.6 million copies from its 2010 release date to now [November 2015]."