This week we take a look at the biggest selling video game series of all time. List of video game franchises that have sold or shipped at least more than 100 million copies. Franchise sales include expansion packs even though they are not considered full video games. Free-to-play game downloads (including free mobile games) and microtransactions should not figure into sales or shipment figures. For best-selling individual video games, see the list of best-selling video games. The sales figures given below do not include arcade game sales, which can be found at the list of highest-grossing arcade games. For mobile games that have generated the most revenue, see the list of highest-grossing mobile games.
Mario - 670.97 million
Mario first appeared in 1981 in the original Donkey Kong, before starring in Mario Bros., followed by the Super Mario series of platform games. The character was created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and has since become the official mascot of Nintendo, owner of the trademark. It is developed by various Nintendo studios. The Mario franchise has expanded into other game genres, including racing, sports, party, puzzle, and role-playing games. The franchise includes other media, including three animated television series, comic books, a manga, a film and other merchandise. It is currently the best-selling video game franchise of all time. It is also the oldest in the 100 million+ group.
Tetris - 495 million
Tetris is a falling-blocks puzzle video game, created by Soviet game designer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It was later commercialized and released on a vast spectrum of platforms, from video game consoles and computers to mobile devices and calculators, with the version bundled with the Game Boy selling over 35 million units, while mobile versions had seen over 425 million paid downloads by 2014. It is the most successful video game franchise to originate from Russia and the former Soviet Union, and the best-selling puzzle video game series and is the best-selling video game franchise not owned by Nintendo.
Pokémon - 368 million
Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri, founder and president of Game Freak, in 1996 as a role-playing video game for the Game Boy handheld game console, soon turning into one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The franchise as a whole includes an anime series, various manga, a trading card game, toys, merchandise, books, over twenty films (one of the highest-grossing animated film series), and other media. It is produced by The Pokémon Company, which is a joint venture by the three companies holding the rights to Pokémon: Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, while Nintendo owns the trademark.
FIFA - 325 million
FIFA is a series of association football based sports games, released yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand. It is the first to have an official license from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football), the international governing body of football.
Call of Duty - 300 million
Call of Duty is a series of first-person shooter video games. The series is published by Activision and Aspyr Media and developed by Infinity Ward, Gray Matter Interactive, Treyarch, Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software, Neversoft and High Moon Studios. With new games in the series released annually to blockbuster-level sales, the series is verified by the Guinness World Records as the best-selling first-person shooter game series. It is also the most successful video game franchise created in the United States In addition to main series sales, there have been over 100 million downloads of the mobile spin-off, Call of Duty: Mobile.
Grand Theft Auto- 270 million
Grand Theft Auto is an open world action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly; the later titles of which were created by brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by Scottish developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, and includes ten stand-alone games and multiple expansion packs. It is the most successful video game franchise originating from the United Kingdom and is the best-selling action-adventure and open world series.
Lego December 1995 200 million
The Lego franchise of video games includes many different games, including original games as well as several adaptations based on licensed properties including Batman, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Star Wars.
The Sims - 200 million
The Sims is a series of life simulation games primarily for personal computers but later released for game consoles. It was created by American game designer Will Wright, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The series consists of four main games and a number of compilations and expansion packs. It is currently the most successful PC game franchise of all time.
Minecraft - 200 million
Minecraft is a sandbox and survival video game originally created by Swedish game designer Markus "Notch" Persson and developed by Mojang. Originally a computer indie game made using Java, it has since been ported to game consoles and mobile devices. It was bought by Microsoft Studios in November 2014. It is the most successful video game franchise Sweden has produced, and is the single best-selling game of all time.
Final Fantasy - 159 million
Final Fantasy is a Japanese science fantasy media franchise, created by the Japanese video game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix. The franchise encompasses fifteen signature role-playing video games alongside a number of spin-off games, motion pictures, and many other consumer products and interactive media.
Mario Kart - 158.70 million
Mario Kart is a series of kart racing games developed and published by Nintendo. The series is a spin-off of the Mario franchise and has spawned eight main games, one enhanced game, four arcade games and a mobile game. It is currently the most successful racing game franchise of all time.
Assassin's Creed - 155 million
Assassin's Creed is an action-adventure stealth video game franchise created by Patrice Désilets. The franchise is developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft.
Need for Speed - 150 million
Need for Speed is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts, and has been developed by multiple companies over the years such as EA Black Box and Criterion Games. There are over 25 games in the series.
Sonic the Hedgehog - 140 million
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game franchise created and owned by Sega. Starring its namesake character Sonic the Hedgehog, created by game designer Yuji Naka and character designer Naoto Ohshima, it has expanded into a media franchise spanning several animated television series, manga, comic books, and a live-action film.
Madden NFL - 130 million
Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The series is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known color commentator for NBC Sports and formerly a Super Bowl-winning head coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders.
Star Wars - 119.371 million
The Star Wars series of video game is part of the sci-fi fantasy media franchise of the same name. Series within it includes Lego Star Wars, Star Wars: Battlefront, and Rogue Squadron.
Pro Evolution Soccer - 108.6 million
Pro Evolution Soccer (known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan) is a series of association football video games developed and published by Konami.
Resident Evil - 107 million
Resident Evil, known in Japan as Biohazard, is a Japanese horror media franchise, created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara, developed by Capcom. It consists of a survival horror video game series, along with comic books, novelizations, six Hollywood motion pictures, and a variety of collectibles, including action figures.
The Legend of Zelda - 104.39 million
The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure game franchise created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Capcom, Vanpool, and Grezzo. The gameplay incorporates action-adventure and elements of action role-playing games.
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