The Top 10 Best-Selling Game Franchises

<< Return to Page 1

Our look at video gaming's biggest franchises continues. Which icons rank in the prestigious top five? We break it down:

5. Grand Theft Auto

Units sold: 65 million
Defining game: GTA III (PS2)

Throw your hands in the air and wave them like you're being robbed, because Rockstar's gangsta paradise has jacked its way onto the list. That's quite a move for a series that didn't see its initial blast of blockbuster success until 2001's seminal Grand Theft Auto III. Every subsequent release has been a major, major deal, due in equal parts to continued design brilliance and buckets of unintentionally promotional backlash. But whether you hate to love it or love to hate it (or, like us, just love to love it), you can't deny GTA's power over the people.

WATCH TRAILER NOW

Trivial Trivia: The original Grand Theft Auto PC game takes place in three different cities: Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas.

4. Final Fantasy

Units sold: 75 million
Defining game: Final Fantasy VII (PSOne)

WATCH TRAILER NOW

In 1987, a fledgling Japanese game development studio desperate for a hit poured all its resources into their last ditch-effort, a role-playing game given the exhausted title, Final Fantasy. The studio was Square, and the series isn't remotely close to being over. Roughly 30 games bearing the Final Fantasy moniker have been released worldwide, a feat made even more amazing considering that most are stand-alone affairs set in totally new worlds with little to no relationship with other games in the series. Despite the disconnected plots, gamers can't get enough of the franchise's trademark combat systems, stellar production values, mystifying melodramas and, of course, those weird, adorable Chocobos.

Trivial Trivia: Final Fantasy XI is considered to be the first console game to have received a downloadable patch.

3. The Sims

Units sold: 90 million
Defining game: The Sims (PC)

WATCH TRAILER NOW

When legendary sim game designer Will Wright first announced his digital dollhouse The Sims, we were all a bit skeptical. Who in their right mind would want to distract themselves from their daily routine by playing a game based on their daily routine? The answer is approximately all of us. The original Sims was a crossover sensation, simultaneously appealing to both seasoned gamers looking for a brand new experience and uninitiated newbies itching to play house and practice social politicking. The formula works; powered by a steady stream of expansions, The Sims franchise maintains a firm grip on monthly PC sales charts to this day.

Trivial Trivia: The original The Sims is the best-selling PC game of all time.

2. Pokemon

Units sold: 164 million
Defining game: Pokemon Red/Blue (Game Boy)

WATCH TRAILER NOW

Well, folks, you were instructed to catch 'em all, and you nearly did. Second only to big brother Mario, the Pokemon games have clawed, scratched and merchandized their way into the hearts and wallets of families all over the world. The Poke-phenomenon began in 1996 with the simultaneous release of two linkable Game Boy games, introducing hordes of impressionable young gamers to the holy handheld trinity of collecting, training and battling digital beasts. Thrilled with the overnight success of its devious concoction, Nintendo quickly opened the media floodgates by spinning it off into an anime series, a trading card game and a variety of feature films. A decade later, the games remain Pokemon's meat and potatoes.

Trivial Trivia: In 1997, over 600 Japanese children suffered seizures while watching an episode of Pokemon called "Electric Soldier Porygon." It hasn't aired since.

1. Mario

Units sold: 195 million
Defining game: Super Mario Bros. (NES)

WATCH TRAILER NOW

Over his illustrious 25-year career, the world's most famous plumber has also become its most successful. Starting with 1983's Joust knock-off Mario Bros., a Mario game has graced every Nintendo console system ever released, from the classic NES to the not-so-classic Virtual Boy. A true Renaissance man, he's had more hits than The Beatles, spawning entire genres (Mario Kart, Super Mario 64) and reinventing old ones (Super Paper Mario). Along the way, his incessant quest for coins has been immensely profitable, grossing Nintendo in upwards of $8 billion.

Trivial Trivia: Mario was named after real-life Nintendo of America office landlord Mario Segale.