Best Selling Video Games 1979 – 2020

Best Selling Video Games 1979 – 2020

This data visualization video shows the best selling video games since 1979. It includes all their ports for newer systems such as for Super Mario Bros for the Wii, Wii U, etc. It does not include Free-to-Play video games, I will include those in a different video.

For top selling I selected those with 1 million in sales units for the first few years, then those with 5 million in sales for the next few years, then 10 million, etc. This was to avoid crowding the chart and to avoid adding games that don’t even peek out for a single year.

These stats come from Wikipedia, articles and from Google Books searches. Some of the data includes approximate numbers as the data available skipped years.

In the video I included quick clips of how the games looked.

50 Comments

  1. Alex Wade on May 15, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    I would really love this to be updated, so I could see where FortNite fits! I loved this video. NGL, I had to watch at 0.75 to get what I wanted from it. Prolly why I never mastered Tetris. Y’all twitchy gamers always had me beat. I need a millisecond longer to make my decisions.



  2. Wyn Abroad on May 15, 2022 at 7:57 pm

    World of Warcraft had over one hundred million registered accounts by 2014



  3. Budgie Jackson on May 15, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    forty nighty ela babagee



  4. Breach on May 15, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    Doom? Starcraft? The Witcher? The Elder Scroll? Red Dead? Call of Duty (any)?



  5. Brian Baer on May 15, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    I’m confused, who the fuck was buying Super Mario Bros in 2003? Wtf??



  6. martijn stegeman on May 15, 2022 at 8:01 pm

    there are many games missing



  7. because reasons on May 15, 2022 at 8:03 pm

    I had no idea Tetris was boss for so long. holy fuck lol No Halo? No CoD? hmmm seems sus. Didn’t see mario kart until then end there…that seems crazy.



  8. おとね♥enn様好き on May 15, 2022 at 8:04 pm

    やっぱマインクラフトだなー



  9. Aiden Moore on May 15, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    Crazy how it took all the way up until 2020 for Tetris to be passed. I never owned Tetris



  10. Cécile Le Bourdonnec on May 15, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    you forget roblox 😐



  11. gilson junior on May 15, 2022 at 8:10 pm

    Jogos bons de verdade: Sonic the Hesgehog 3, The Revenge of Shinobi, Mortal Kombat 3 Ultimate, God of War, Black, GTA S.A. Ace Combat Zero…



  12. Avengers on May 15, 2022 at 8:10 pm

    Where is CoD



  13. Dave Henderson on May 15, 2022 at 8:10 pm

    What happened to Fallout 4? It was GOTY.



  14. Phil B on May 15, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    What software is used to make this video?



  15. Sam Luna on May 15, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    I feel bad for Tetris



  16. Chris Green on May 15, 2022 at 8:12 pm

    I was somehow expecting World of Warcraft to be in this list…?



  17. Robin Meade on May 15, 2022 at 8:13 pm

    It’s kind of not fair to compare cartridge home versions of game the size of a palm hand vs dedicated arcade machine the size of an adult.



  18. Rax Fox on May 15, 2022 at 8:14 pm

    Im really surprised and happy that Sonic made it so long on this list. But could it be that some of the golden classics made it only so far because they were sold together with the console? Tetris and SML with GB, Sonic with Genesis, SMB with NES, SMW with SNES?!



  19. • RoastedPotato • on May 15, 2022 at 8:19 pm

    Ok, but why did you use a clip of wii fit trainer’s f-tilt’s hitbox as a display for wii fit



  20. ThatKindCoder on May 15, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    I thought 2007 would roll around, and in the distance, you hear a faint
    "After 9 years in development, we hope it was worth the wait"



  21. Denikin Dmytriy on May 15, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    … dota, the Witcher…



  22. Lunar does everything on May 15, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    Can’t believe half of the top ten best selling games were Nintendo IP’s. Just goes to show how dominant they were in the 90’s



  23. Gen X Classic Gaming on May 15, 2022 at 8:21 pm

    Guess you guys aren’t including PC gaming? DOOM, hello?!?



  24. Sarah H on May 15, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    Why did you include Minecraft but not World of Warcraft?



  25. deli dan on May 15, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    were was roblox



  26. Just A Crusader on May 15, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    Within decades,we evolved from piling blocks to living in a completely breathing,realistic world. It’s just stunning!



  27. mirqooo hoo on May 15, 2022 at 8:25 pm

    Mario in 2000 – I’m a Legend
    Space Invaders – Shut the fu*k up dude 😀



  28. Aza Z on May 15, 2022 at 8:25 pm

    Pretty much all those games are terrible.



  29. Rhian Hegarty on May 15, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    i looooooove these videos!!!!! I always find myself sat watching them and commentating like Im watching Formula 1 or The Grand National lol



  30. Big E on May 15, 2022 at 8:28 pm

    Some of my faves: Tetris, Contra, Street Fighter II, Wii Sports, God of War.



  31. CompressLuft on May 15, 2022 at 8:30 pm

    how can you let tetris up there? xD
    there‘s absolutely no way it‘s original version sold 200 million copies…
    and for the ones saying it got remakes: well then you could argument for every other game such as mario, cod, fifa, gta and so on like that too, it‘s the same just a little different looks🤨



  32. Кирилл Мордовин on May 15, 2022 at 8:30 pm

    Until Minecraft Russian game beat the world…



  33. Zain Alk on May 15, 2022 at 8:32 pm

    Clash of clans? Pou? Counter strike? COD mobile? Red Alert 2 ? NFS?
    I guess this video is just bullshit



  34. NELYRAL on May 15, 2022 at 8:33 pm

    🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂😊



  35. Doktor Bundy on May 15, 2022 at 8:33 pm

    many of these games were good also: GTA Vice City, GTA San Andreas, GTA IV, Tetris, Street Fighter 2.



  36. John R on May 15, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    Minecraft is goofy. I’ve never understood the appeal of that game.



  37. KebabMusicLtd on May 15, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    I find watching these graphics to be strangely relaxing, especially with the music



  38. Alexander Bond on May 15, 2022 at 8:34 pm

    It’s really beautiful that the two top selling games were made by a nerd in a basement.
    Perfect.



  39. Järkevä ihminen on May 15, 2022 at 8:35 pm

    TETRIS ! Всё гениальное-просто.👍



  40. Aiden Moore on May 15, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    whats depressing is to see all these games where the numbers are just increasing and increasing and then it just suddenly, stops on a hault. Always on an even number too. Seems cheap to me, whatever company creates the game, should just continue making the game, rather then cutting it off at their own personal goal. I’m sure Frogger or Wii Sports could’ve sold more for example



  41. gilson junior on May 15, 2022 at 8:36 pm

    Minecraft é uma bosta. Aceitem que dói menos.



  42. Alex Sadof on May 15, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    Man, Frogger really had some…. legs.



  43. sussy baka on May 15, 2022 at 8:39 pm

    MC dint release at 2015(pretty sure) btw mayn noice vid keep up tha gud wrk



  44. Gabriel C on May 15, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    No Mortal Kombat, Diablo II, Counter Strike ?!



  45. Bethel Abba on May 15, 2022 at 8:40 pm

    Fascinating that it took 11 years for Tetris to reach #1 and it held that spot …. but only 5 years for MineCraft to do it. 😛

    While we all might love constructing things as the blocks fall (Tetris) …. there’s nothing better than blowing blocks up with blocky dynamite (Minecraft). All it took was someone to figure that out to upsurp Tetris from the top spot.



  46. lygophile on May 15, 2022 at 8:41 pm

    no Starcraft?



  47. Roblox Bacon 🥓 on May 15, 2022 at 8:41 pm

    5 Year old kids: WHERES DAMN ROBLOX



  48. Brandon Burch on May 15, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    I guess I was more into the niche games as a 90s kid.



  49. Олимпийские победы России on May 15, 2022 at 8:45 pm

    CS 1.6?Dota 2?WOT?



  50. Rafael Vasilopoulos on May 15, 2022 at 8:46 pm

    Where is lol tho