Best Selling Video Games 1979 - 2023

In this update I added the latest 3 years of data and updated some numbers that were published by more credible sources. I also split up the Tetris numbers because all the game versions were quite different, there's no such thing as a classic version to combine.

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.

[quakebox]

Super Mario Bros from 1987 to 2008 first position. This is remarkable.

[leokimvideo]

And remember when Minecraft came out EVERYONE said it would be a flash in the pan because who wants to play low resolution low pixel games. Wow how wrong EVERYONE was saying that. Minecraft is the giant of all games

[nickcarr]

It blows me away how many massively influential and well known games that took the gaming world by storm just never made it onto this list. Like I was expecting Doom, Halo, Starcraft, Final Fantasy, and any number of others to make appearances. But nope, the arcade games and Nintendo cannot be stopped.

[plantman]

Tetris and minecraft really show how much people like blocks

[Kaboomboo]

The fact that Nintendo had a position for over half the top 10 list almost the entire time is astounding. 😳

[julian]

Tetris stopped making copies of the 1989 edition in 1994 and it stayed second for nearly 8 years

[samlaude]

It's amazing how Super Mario Bros was still selling way into the 2000s.

[birtyk]

Thank you for keeping making these videos, absolutely no idea why but the music you use to go with it fills me with nostalgia to go with the content of the video. Love it and never stop! 👍🏻

[AWESOM.O]

The most impressive is Pac Man who's still in the top 10 after 40 YEARS ! I almost played all those Atari games 😂

[gerardorodriguez]

The fact that Super Mario Bros, Pacman and Pokemon are still hanging in there should tell you how big those ganes were

[thechillykitty]

Thank you for making this, it was quite exciting to watch! Great for my kid to see charts used in a relevant way to.

[rocklobster]

I remember before consoles riding our bicycles to the local Pizza place or Bowling alley to play Space Invaders and Galaga and then once a year my parents would take us to the beach for a weekend and we'd spend all of our time in the arcades dropping quarters into the machines. I regret the excitement and adventure of getting to even play a video game back in the day will never be experienced by kids again.

[smbthx]

It took Terraria 11 years to finally crack the Top 10, which is impressive for an indie game that was used to be in the shadow of Minecraft and seen as "2D Minecraft" despite getting a full release first before Minecraft actually did.

[Galaxy-]

I'm afraid to imagine what will happen if we sum up the incomes of all tetris clones

[tjjordan]

Super Mario Bros. really hanged in there for a long while at the Number 1 spot and still managed to be in the Top 10 best sellers to this day.

[doggo]

MINECRAFT and GTA 5 defined the 2010's <3

[starbrainfire]

I love that you show how the game looks like too :D So cool.

[Brainzz]

Minecraft is a classic.I hope it never gets forgotten

[scmarshtacky]

It's insane to me the amount of development that's really happened in the past 20 or so years. We've gone from playing with dull-colored pixel people to 4k and VR. It's crazy when you really sit down to think about it.

[twincast]

I miss Lemmings so damn much. The original games as well as the concept no matter the brand; there've been almost no attempts at clones. Same re The Lost Vikings. And at least Lemmings is still a hit by today's standards.