Rockstar recently announced that its marquee title, Grand Theft Auto V, had amounted an absolutely astonishing number of units sold since its 2013 release. First launched on last generation’s Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the open world game continues to post impressive stats, regularly featuring among the best physical and digital sales each month. GTA V’s multiplayer is also thriving, with 10 million active users enjoying continual updates and new online modes.
As a result of this unwavering interest, GTA V is now on track to set new video game sales records, and it’s already rubbing shoulders with some seriously legendary titles. So, to celebrate Rockstar’s triumphant announcement, we’re taking a look at how GTA V stacks up versus some of the industry’s most iconic and best-selling titles. For the record, this is not a list of the top 10 best-selling games of all time, as we’re not including several Wii games such as Wii Sports/Resort, because they were included in console bundles.
Overwatch – 25 million
Last year, Blizzard launched Overwatch, an FPS that felt heavily inspired by Team Fortress Classic and incorporated MOBA-esque attributes to its team based shooting formula.
Excited gamers lapped it up in droves, the game recording an utterly mad 25 million units sold in less than 12 months. Overwatch’s community continues to build in size and the game looks set to stick around for a long time yet, so don’t be surprised if this one climbs its way up the leaderboard moving forward.
Grand Theft Auto IV – 25 million
No surprises that Rockstar’s previous Grand Theft Auto title also makes the list. The series’ fourth title followed on from a trilogy of immensely popular GTA games on PS2, but this was its first outing on PS3 and Xbox 360, and the reception was suitably bonkers.
Liberty City was back, but this time realized in HD graphics and with a level of detail not seen before in any other urban sandbox. In combination with its superb multiplayer offering – a series first – players were infatuated with GTA IV, propelling the game to an impressive total of 25 million units sold.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – 26.6 million
Building on the success of Modern Warfare and its sequel, the series’ third game trumps the units sold of every other Call of Duty title. In fact, it’s the best selling FPS ever made. As an example of the scale of its success, the title grossed more than $775 million globally in its first five days of availability and has sold as much as the first 3 Halo games combined!
Diablo III – 30 million
When Diablo III hit store shelves back in 2012, the game sold like hotcakes. The isometric RPG smashed sales records for the series, recording over 6 million sold in its first week alone, which makes it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. Reaper of Souls, the game’s expansion, and a later console port to PS4 and Xbox One have helped Diablo III exceed past the 30 million mark.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – 30 million
Famed for its massive open world and emphasis on player freedom, Skyrim was a phenomenon when it launched back in 2011. Even a host of bugs and glitches – which would become a great source of amusement among the industry for years to come – didn’t curb enthusiasm for the game, Bethesda stating it had earned $450 million in revenue in its first week.
A subsequent remaster for the current generation, and the announcement that it would be ported for the upcoming Nintendo Switch has kept the game in the spotlight, 5 years after launch. Skyrim has sold 30 million copies as of Novmber, 2016.
Mario Kart Wii – 36.38
Mario Kart has emerged as the most popular spin-off title ever made. Having introduced 4 player and 3D graphics, the N64 version of Mario Kart put the series on the map, but everyone’s favorite multiplayer game really took off on Wii. It is the second best-selling game on the console, only behind Wii Sports – a game that was bundled with the console in most regions – and is the best-selling racing game of all time. The entire Mario Kart franchise has sold over 100 million units combined.
Super Mario Bros. – 40.24 million
Super Mario Bros. is the Mario series’ most iconic, and for many people the best game of the franchise. So immense was its popularity that Super Mario Bros. is credited with helping the entire video game industry recover from the crash of the late 1980s. With the exception of Wii Sports, Super Mario Bros. is the best selling video game for a single video game platform (NES).
Grand Theft Auto V – 75 million
What a remarkable game Grand Theft Auto V is. At 75 million units sold, it has sold a whopping 3 times the number of copies as its predecessor. 3 1/2 years after release, Grand Theft Auto V continues to steamroll its competition, consistently stealing the sales top spot from even the newest and hottest releases. It is a virtual freak of the video game industry and one that shows no sign of going anywhere. Young, old, single player or multiplayer, casual or hardcore, gamers can’t get enough of the Grand Theft Auto Franchise.
Here are some figures:
- Within 24 hours of launch, Grand Theft Auto V earned Rockstar more than $800 million in revenue.
- GTA V sold 11.2 million copies in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest selling product in video gaming history. It has since broken 7 Guinness World Records for the speed of its units sold.
- 3 days after release, GTA V had earned Rockstar $1 billion.
- It is the fourth best selling videogame of all time, and of those 4 it is the most recent.
Minecraft – 107.86 million
Minecraft has taken the world by storm. A video gaming icon, it is available on every major platform, from PlayStation 4 to Raspberry TV. Adored by young children as much as it is by the most creative adult minds, Minecraft is a smash hit because it gives players a platform to unleash their inner creativity with unparalleled freedom.
Tetris – 495 million
As impressive as GTA V is, nothing compares to Tetris’s 495 million units sold – that is more than every game on this list combined. Having started life as an early 80s arcade game, everyone knows the iconic puzzle game, and it’s stats blow everything else out of the water. The Gameboy version alone recorded 35 million units.
As gargantuan a figure as 495 million is, though, keep in mind that Tetris has a big advantage over the other games here. Not only has it has been around for over 30 years, it is available on 65 different platforms, and has typically cost a fraction of $60 games such as GTA V.
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