Top 10 highest selling games of all time

While sales aren't too important a metric to judge a game, it's also a metric to gauge how a game's impact has been over time. To learn more, join TipsMake to find out the top 10 highest-selling games of all time.

10. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ~ 29 million copies

After The Witcher 2: Assiasins of Kings, not many thought the sequel would make a good impression. But The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has really exploded and got the attention of the gaming community. This game has a beautiful open world, interesting, insightful characters and an unforgettable storyline. The side quests that appear randomly are also memorable, and sometimes even more engaging than the main quest. Not surprisingly, The Witcher 3 sold nearly 29 million copies in April 2020.

9. Terraria

After its launch in 2011, the sandbox adventure game Terraria received tremendous support, many calling it the '2D version of Minecraft'. This resulted in millions of copies being sold worldwide. In fact, as of April 2020 it has surpassed 30 million copies sold, becoming one of the best selling games ever. The majority of sales are due to PC, with 14 million copies.

The developer Re-Logic has released the final expansion of the game, called Journey's End, and now they are planning to make a new game. Will it be as successful as Terraria? Let's wait.

8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ~30 million copies

It's hard to say how many copies Skyrim has sold, especially given its numerous re-releases and remakes. Todd Howard, director of Bethesda Game Studios reported the game sold over 30 million copies in a 2016 interview. He said players spend an average of more than 150 hours playing.

7. Pokemon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow ~ 45 million copies

It is the first and most popular Pokemon-themed game released on the Game Boy and Nintendo platforms. Although Nintendo has not publicly shared total sales for Pokemon, it is estimated that the total sales of all 4 versions of Red / Blue / Green / Yellow are 45 million copies - a number recorded by Polygon. As of 2016, 1.5 million copies of which have been sold through the Virtual Console.

6. Super Mario Bros. ~ 40 million copies

Platforms: Nes/Famicom, Game Boy Advanced, Virtual Console

Mario is probably the most recognizable character on the list. Super Mario Bros. has sold over 40 million copies – according to the Guinness World Records, making it the best-selling NES game ever. Revenue is only one part, in terms of the number of people who have played Super Mario Bros, the number is probably uncountable. Surely few of us grew up without playing this super classic game, right?

5. Red Dead Redemption 2 ~ 36 million copies

Red Dead Redemption 2 is undoubtedly Rockstar's most ambitious game to date, bringing us the most immersive and amazing open world ever seen. In it, you will have access to an interesting cast of characters, with motivation and realistic action. Everything from the main character Arthur Morgan that changes based on the environment, to the reactions of the NPCs is done in detail, not 'pretentious'. And this game is well deserved having sold over 36 million copies since its release in October 2018.

4. Playerunknown's Battleground (PUBG) ~ 70 million copies

As of July 2020, PUBG has sold 70 million copies, making it one of the best-selling games of all time. Although mobile downloads are not counted in sales, it is worth noting that as of July 2020, the PUBG Mobile version has achieved over 700 million downloads.

3. Wii Sports ~ 83 million copies

According to Nintendo's official sales figures, Wii Sports is the company's best-selling game ever. Released for the Nintendo Wii console, the game was included with most Nintendo Wii at launch. There's a bit of 'cheating' here, but the 83 million sales figure is still something we give the Wii Sport to.

2. Minecraft ~ 200 million copies

Minecraft has now sold 200 million copies, information announced by Microsoft. The global phenomenon Minecraft has opened up a whole new genre of games and has become one of the greatest success stories of all time. This game is now available for most popular platforms: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo Wii and PC.

1. Tetris ~ 500 million copies

It may seem a bit surprising, but the legendary puzzle game Tetris is really the name that tops the sales list. Originally released for the Soviet-developed Elektronika 60 computer, variations of the classic puzzle game have been created for over 50 different platforms. According to statistics, physical games sold nearly 70 million copies (35 million belonged to the Game Boy system). Along with that, VentureBeat reports that sales of the paid mobile version of Tetris hit more than 425 million copies. This may be a number that has not been completely verified, but we can temporarily recognize the success of this game.

Lesley Montoya

Update 17 December 2021