Ever wonder what the highest grossing games of all time are? So have we. However, it isn’t as simple as counting up all the pennies and seeing who made the most. As most things are in the world of business, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered to determine an accurate list. Inflation is one of those important factors.
When you take into account the inflation of prices over time, it isn’t necessarily fair to compare the amount of money a 2015 game makes to something that came out in the 80s. Courtesy of the numbers provided by VGsales, let’s look and see which games reign supreme using 2015 inflation numbers. Keep in mind that this includes total sales across all platforms (digital, micro-transactions, arcade, retail, etc.) and all the numbers are using figures after they have been adjusted for inflation in 2015. You might be surprised by which games are on top when everything is equal!
5. CrossFire – $6.8 Billion
In 2007, Korean developer SmileGate released a first-person free-to-play shooter for PC and it took the online world by storm. With simple graphics and an interactive chat bar to communicate with teammates, it turned out to be an extremely accessible and popular FPS. However, the range of modes that include Soccer, Zombies and Free For All have kept millions of users actively playing. The game generates its revenue through in-game purchases such as better guns, so whilst you can play full matches without paying a penny, unless you’re unbelievably skilled, you’ll probably have to buy a better gun.
4. World of Warcraft – $8.5 Billion
Blizzard and its multi-billion dollar empire that is World of Warcraft, have remained incredibly popular since its launch in 2004. It holds the Guinness World Record for the most-subscribed MMORPG and gains its humongous revenue through subscription payments, auctions, and even things like paying to move a character from one realm to another.
It’s easy to see why World of Warcraft is so addictive, and how it has consumed hours upon hours of time for millions of people. It has a huge open world, tons of quests, fun character classes and skills, and challenging raids. It continues to evolve to this day with a new expansion pack, Legion, coming next year.
3. Street Fighter II – $10.6 Billion
Back in 1991 there came a legendary game called Street Fighter II on an arcade platform that introduced us to fighting combat games as we know them today. Now available on 17 different platforms including the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and SNES, the arcade machines alone made over $2 billion. The Street Fighter series paved the way for other fighting franchises such as Mortal Kombat and is still available to buy now on the Wii U Virtual Console. Its success is still booming as the highly anticipated fifth installment is predicted for release in February 2016.
2. Pac-Man – $12.8 Billion
Not only is Pac-Man an iconic game with unique and recognizable music, sound effects, and gameplay, the character itself was and still is a worldwide phenomena. The simple yellow circle with a chunk taken out for a mouth is distinctive to anyone, gamer or not, and his enemy ghosts have become a cult favorite. Back in 1980 when it was an arcade game, Pac-Man took over the gaming industry and helped bring video games into the mainstream, ripping away tons of quarters in the process.
Today, he is still chomping on little pellets as he can be played on smartphones, consoles, and tablets as well as being an extra character on Super Smash Bros.
1. Space Invaders – $13.9 Billion
As well as being a classic video game that pretty much any young adult or older has played at some point in their life, Space Invaders is so iconic, that it could independently represent the video game industry. From being a novelty desk lamp to a pre-set ‘emoticon’ on the Apple iPhone, Space Invaders is definitely recognized worldwide. The game that started the hype arrived in 1978 and became the main attraction at many arcades in Japan and continued to lead the market as years went by. Original arcade machines can now be worth thousands of dollars, so if you have one or know someone that does, you might want to dig it out… that is if you can pry yourself from playing it!
Are any of these highest grossing games your favorite? Did you expect to see another title in the list? Let us know in the comments!
This post was originally written by Claire Pulpher.
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