A video game can dominate conversation for a year and then quietly disappear, but selling tens of millions of copies requires a different kind of staying power. The industry's biggest commercial successes span four decades and almost every style imaginable, from open-world westerns and fantasy adventures to farming simulators, racing games, and one famously simple puzzle built around falling blocks.
We looked at the latest publicly available sales figures to rank the 15 highest-selling video games of all time. The ranking counts paid copies across platforms and, where applicable, versions or editions included in reported lifetime totals (Tetris, for example, combines decades of releases). Some benefited from console bundles, others found entirely new audiences years after release, and several continue adding millions of sales long after most games from their generation have left the spotlight. Figures reflect publicly reported sales totals, which publishers update on different schedules.
Electronic Arts
1 / 15- Copies sold: 50 million (as of 2008)
Released for PC in 2000, "The Sims" found entertainment in the routines of ordinary life. Building homes, finding jobs, forming relationships, and managing virtual families proved appealing far beyond traditional gaming audiences, helping launch one of EA's most enduring franchises. By 2008, the original game alone had sold more than 50 million copies.
Eric Barone // IMDb
2 / 15- Copies sold: 50 million (as of February 2026)
Eric Barone largely developed "Stardew Valley" on his own before releasing the farming RPG in 2016. Its inviting mix of farming, exploration, relationships, and open-ended progression has kept players returning, while releases across consoles and mobile devices steadily introduced the game to new audiences. Barone announced in February 2026 that the game had topped 50 million copies sold.
Casimiro PT // Shutterstock
3 / 15- Copies sold: 50.63 million (as of September 2026)
Few games arrived at a more unusual moment. "Animal Crossing: New Horizons" debuted for Nintendo Switch in March 2020, offering a peaceful island to decorate, explore, and share just as much of the world entered lockdown. That comforting social experience quickly became a cultural phenomenon, and the game has since topped 50 million copies sold.
No Brakes Games // IMDb
4 / 15- Copies sold: 55 million (as of February 2025)
The premise is wonderfully uncomplicated: guide a floppy, deliberately awkward human through physics-based puzzles without completely losing control. Since its 2016 debut, "Human: Fall Flat" has found particular success in multiplayer, where friends failing spectacularly can be just as entertaining as solving the puzzle. Publisher Curve Games reported in 2025 that the game had sold 55 million units.
Kyle Hatfield // Shutterstock
5 / 15- Copies sold: 58 million (including ports and rereleases)
When "Super Mario Bros." arrived in 1985, its colorful side-scrolling levels helped establish a blueprint for home console gaming. The NES hit introduced millions of players to the Mushroom Kingdom while transforming Mario into one of the most recognizable characters in entertainment.
laur2321 // Shutterstock
6 / 15- Copies sold: 65 million (as of July 2026)
"Skyrim" has become almost as famous for its many rereleases as for its dragons. Bethesda's 2011 fantasy RPG gives players enormous freedom to explore, fight, join factions, and shape their own adventures, while a massive modding community has helped keep its world active nearly 15 years later. Bethesda announced in July 2026 that the game had sold 65 million copies.
laur2321 // Shutterstock
7 / 15- Copies sold: 65 million (as of May 2026)
CD Projekt Red's 2015 RPG follows monster hunter Geralt of Rivia through a sprawling fantasy world where even seemingly minor choices can carry consequences. Critical acclaim, major expansions, and releases on newer platforms have given "The Witcher 3" an unusually long commercial life, with the studio reporting more than 65 million copies sold in May 2026.
Re-Logic // Steam
8 / 15- Copies sold: 70 million (as of May 2026)
What initially looks like a straightforward 2D adventure opens into a remarkably deep combination of mining, crafting, building, exploration, and combat. Re-Logic first released "Terraria" in 2011, and years of substantial updates have continually given its community reasons to start another world. The studio marked the game's 15th anniversary by announcing it had hit 70 million copies sold.
SolidMaks // Shutterstock
9 / 15- Copies sold: 75 million (as of March 2023)
Before battle royale became one of gaming's dominant genres, "PUBG: Battlegrounds" helped establish its modern formula. Beginning in 2017, matches dropped large groups of players onto a shrinking map and challenged them to be the last survivor, driving enormous sales before the game switched to free-to-play in 2022. Krafton later put its lifetime total at more than 75 million units sold.
Nintendo // IMDb
10 / 15- Copies sold: 80.46 million (as of September 2026)
Nintendo first released "Mario Kart 8" for the Wii U in 2014, but its second life on the Switch turned an already successful racer into a phenomenon. "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" reached a much larger audience, while multiplayer, new tracks, and years of continued support kept the game relevant across generations. Nintendo reports 72 million copies of the Switch version sold as of September 2026, on top of about 8.5 million for the Wii U original.
Snap Spot // Shutterstock
11 / 15- Copies sold: 82.9 million (as of September 2020)
Bowling a strike by swinging a controller felt almost revolutionary when the Wii arrived in 2006. "Wii Sports" made Nintendo's motion controls instantly understandable through tennis, bowling, baseball, golf, and boxing, attracting children, parents, and grandparents who might never have considered themselves gamers. Nintendo's last reported total puts the game at 82.9 million copies, many of them bundled with the console.
Miguel Lagoa // Shutterstock
12 / 15- Copies sold: 89 million (as of September 2026)
Rockstar spent years constructing the extraordinarily detailed American frontier of "Red Dead Redemption 2," released in 2018. Its story follows outlaw Arthur Morgan as the Wild West fades away, combining an emotionally driven narrative with an open world designed to reward players for wandering well beyond the main missions. Take-Two reported in November 2026 that the game had passed 89 million units.
Chebotaeva Ekaterina // Shutterstock
13 / 15- Copies sold: Nearly 235 million (as of September 2026)
Most blockbuster games eventually make way for their successors; "Grand Theft Auto V" simply kept selling. Rockstar's 2013 crime epic follows three protagonists across Los Santos, while the enduring popularity of "GTA Online" carried the title through multiple console generations and well beyond its original release era. Take-Two put sales at nearly 235 million units just weeks before the Nov. 19 release of "Grand Theft Auto VI."
Edson Torres Nunes Filho // Shutterstock
14 / 15- Copies sold: 425 million (as of September 2026)
There is no single prescribed way to play "Minecraft," and that freedom is central to its extraordinary reach. Players can construct cities, survive monsters, explore with friends, create elaborate machines, or simply dig for resources, allowing Mojang's block-based sandbox to appeal to wildly different audiences. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said in September 2026 that the game had sold more than 425 million copies.
22Images Studio // Shutterstock
15 / 15- Copies sold: 520 million (as of January 2026)
No cinematic story or sprawling open world was necessary to create gaming's biggest sales phenomenon. Alexey Pajitnov designed "Tetris" in 1984 around the simple challenge of arranging falling geometric pieces, a concept that proved almost endlessly portable as versions spread across consoles, computers, handhelds, and phones. The Tetris Company counts more than 520 million units sold across all of those versions combined.