Summary
To say that there’s big money in video games would perhaps be a bit of an understatement, with the industry generating hundreds of billions of dollars each and every year. A significant proportion of this money comes from microtransactions and mobile games, buttraditional video game salesstill play an important role in the industry’s runaway success.
The best-selling video game franchises have sold hundreds of millions of copies over the years; generating billions of dollars for their respective publishers and developers in the process. Unsurprisingly, many of the most popular video game series also happen to be some ofthe longest-running, as, generally the longer a series is around, the more sequels and spin-offs get released.
Updated June 29, 2025, by Tom Bowen:The most successful video game franchises have sold billions of copies between them and have been responsible for some of the very best video games of all time. They’ve consistently offered up innovation and creativity that has in turn gone on to inspire countless others, helping to shape and define the industry and many of the genres that it’s comprised of. Their popularity is unrivaled and their impact is immeasurable, thus explaining their status as the best-selling video game series of all time.
12Sonic the Hedgehog
160 Million+ Sales (June 1991 - Present)
Sonic may have fallen off a little in recent years, but there was once a time when Sega’s blue blur was able to go toe-to-toe with Mario. This is perhaps evidenced by the fact that around half of the series' total sales can be attributed to the first twoSonicgames, which have sold around 50 and 25 million copies respectively over the years.
Since then,Sonic 3 & Knucklesis the only game to have cleared ten million units, althoughthe twoSonic Adventuregames for the Sega Dreamcastboth came close, as too did 2017’sSonic Mania. The iconic hedgehog still remains popular despite this decline in sales though, having managed to find great success on the silver screen in recent years.
11Final Fantasy
185 Million+ Sales (December 1987 - Present)
Hironobu Sakaguchi’sFinal Fantasyfranchise has had a profound impact onthe JRPG genre. It’s inspired countless other titles over the years and played a huge role in the genre’s rise in popularity on Western shores. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise to learn that it’s one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
Final Fantasy 10and its 2003 sequel make up a significant portion of the franchise’s sales, with more than 20 million units shipped between them. The series' seventh, eighth, and thirteenth installments have also proven popular with players, having shipped well over 40 million copies combined once remakes, remasters, and rereleases are taken into account.
10Assassin’s Creed
200 Million+ Sales (November 2007 - Present)
Given that most of the best-selling video game franchises have been around since before the turn of the century, forAssassin’s Creedto have shifted more than 200 million units since its 2007 debut is quite the achievement. Of course, it certainly helps that - including spin-offs - the series has averaged just shy of two new titles a year since the very firstAssassin’s Creedgame.
When it comes to the best-sellingAssassin’s Creedgames, there are a couple of different contenders for the top spot. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flagsold around 15 million copies, while in early 2022,Ubisoft revealed thatAssassin’s Creed Valhallahad generated over a billion dollars in consumer revenue. However, it remains unclear how much DLC and microtransactions figured into this amount.
9The Sims
200 Million+ Sales (February 2000 - Present)
ForThe Simsto have racked up over 200 million sales is an impressive feat indeed, especially when one considers that there have only been four mainline titles. It’s worth noting though that this figure does appear to include sales of the many expansions that have been released over the years, withThe Sims 4currently sitting at 14 and counting.
In terms of the best-sellingSimsgames,The Sims 4surpassed 20 million players in early 2020, making it the most-played title inthe franchise’s rich history. In second place sits the series' very first installment, which is thought to have sold around 11 million copies, with the other twoSimsgames having brought in around 13 million sales between them.
8LEGO
200 Million+ Sales (September 1997 - Present)
Although there have been one or two big sellers, the success ofLEGOvideo games is more to do with strength in numbers than it is individual brilliance. There have been more than 100LEGOgames since the turn of the century, ranging from tacky mobile titles to licensed games based on some of the world’s biggest media IPs.
Together,LEGOgames are estimated to have sold more than 200 million copies, with licensed games making up a significant proportion of this amount. Among the most successful properties areLEGO Star Wars,LEGO Indiana Jones, andLEGO Batman, which, between them, have shifted well over 50 million units over the years.
7Minecraft
350 Million+ Sales (November 2011 - Present)
As well as being one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time,Minecraftalso holds the distinction of being one of the best-selling games. Pretty much all of the quarter of a billion sales or so that the series has achieved can be attributed to the influential sandbox title, withMinecraft Dungeonsattracting another 10 million players or so.
Given the huge success of the franchise, it’s no wonder thatMicrosoft was willing to part with so much money to acquire Mojang in 2014, with the tech giant handing over $2.5 billion to make the deal happen. That may seem like a lot, but given that the series has generated more than $3 billion through game sales alone, most will likely see this as money well invested.
6FIFA
325 Million+ Sales (December 1993 - September 2022)
Considering North Americans are only just now beginning to appreciate the joys of football, the success of EA’sFIFAfranchise was all the more impressive. The series received annual multiplatform releases for almost three full decades, with the lion’s share of its 325 million-plus sales having come from European and South American countries.
The best-sellingFIFAgame isFIFA 18, which sold more than 26 million copies. There were more than tenFIFAgames that have powered past the ten million markthough, making it easy to see where that staggering total came from. However, after failing to agree a new deal with the organization from which the series took its name, EA was forced to rebrand the franchise toEA Sports FCin 2023.
5Call of Duty
425 Million+ Sales (October 2003 - Present)
Having beaten off strong competition from the likes ofMedal of HonorandBattlefield,Call of Dutyis now widely regarded as being the top dog when it comes to multiplayer FPS games. Unsurprisingly, this has led to phenomenal sales over the years, with the franchise having shifted more than 425 million units since its 2003 debut.
Of the 12Call of Dutytitles to have broken through the 10 million unit mark, it’sCall of Duty: Black Opsthat leads the way with an impressive 30.72 million sales.Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3(30.71 million) andCall of Duty: Black Ops 2(29.59 million) take second and third place respectively and help to demonstrate just how dominantCODwas at the height of its popularity.
4Grand Theft Auto
430 Million+ Sales (November 1997 - Present)
Rockstar Games seemingly has the Midas touch, with just about everything that the studio touches turning to gold. This all started with theGrand Theft Autoseries, which, after its relatively humble beginnings back in the nineties, has gone on to become one of the biggest video game franchises around.
A significant proportion of the series' 400 million-plus sales can be attributed to its fifth mainline installment, withGTA 5having sold more than 200 million copies worldwide in the decade or so since its initial release. For those wondering, this is more than twice as many asthe four previous mainlineGTAgamesmanaged between them.
3Pokemon
480 Million+ Sales (February 1996 - Present)
Pokemonhas generated more than $88 billion since its inception back in 1996, making it the highest-grossing media franchise of all time by some considerable margin. It falls some way short of being the best-selling video game series though, withPokemongames only accounting for a small proportion of the franchise’s overall revenue.
In total,Pokemonhas shifted more than 480 million units, with the Gen 1 titles accounting for around 31 million of these.Pokemon Sword & Shieldcome in second place with 25 million sales, whileGold & Silvertake the bronze with 23 million.Scarlet & Violet(20.61 million) aren’t too far behind though and will likely end up breaking into the top three before all is said and done.
