Adding every sales cell in the data table gives 2,401.94 million copies. Tetris, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto V account for 1,150 million of that total, which is 47.9%. The other 23 games account for 1,251.94 million, or 52.1%.
| Measure | Value | How it was calculated |
|---|---|---|
| Combined sales | 2,401.94 | Sum of all 26 sales cells |
| Mean | 92.38 | 2,401.94 divided by 26 titles |
| Median | 50.15 | Halfway between Animal Crossing: New Horizons (50.29) and The Sims (50), the 13th and 14th values |
| Top 3 share | 47.9% | 1,150 divided by 2,401.94 |
The mean, 92.38 million, sits well above the median because Tetris, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto V pull it up. The middle of this list is a game that sold about 50 million copies. Remembering only the average pictures a list that sits much higher than most of its rows. Tetris, Minecraft, and Grand Theft Auto V can be checked against the total in the full table.
The year column is the first release year, which is earlier than the year many of these games did most of their selling. Grouped into decades, the list is concentrated in the 2010s by both count and copies. The 1980s are a useful contrast: two titles, and 578 million copies, almost all of it Tetris.
| Decade | Titles | Sales (millions) | What drives the total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 2 | 578 | Tetris (520) and Super Mario Bros. (58) |
| 1990s | 2 | 87.44 | Pokémon Red and Blue (47.44) and Sonic the Hedgehog (40) |
| 2000s | 4 | 214.08 | The Sims, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii |
| 2010s | 15 | 1,392.13 | Fifteen titles, including Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V |
| 2020s | 3 | 130.29 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Cyberpunk 2077, and Hogwarts Legacy |
Fifteen of the 26 titles were first released from 2010 through 2019. Those rows hold 1,392.13 million copies, about 58% of the table. A decade with more rows is also, in this dataset, the decade with more copies. That pattern still depends on Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V, which sit inside the 2010s. Minecraft is one of those rows in the full table.
The earlier analysis set Stardew Valley and Terraria beside Cyberpunk 2077 and Grand Theft Auto V. This page keeps that comparison and fills it in with every related row already in the table. The small-team group is the three games whose developer column names one person or a small studio: ConcernedApe, Re-Logic, and No Brakes Games. The large-studio group is every Rockstar and CD Projekt game in the table.
Three titles, 178 million copies combined. The mean inside this group is 59.33 million, close to the median of the full list (50.15 million). These games sit near the middle of the ranking.
| Title | Sales | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| Terraria | 70 | Re-Logic |
| Human: Fall Flat | 58 | No Brakes Games |
| Stardew Valley | 50 | ConcernedApe |
Four titles, 422 million copies combined. The mean is 105.5 million, and Grand Theft Auto V is 230 of those 422 million, 54.5% of this group. One row still sets the scale inside the studio sample.
| Title | Sales | Developer |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 230 | Rockstar North |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 87 | Rockstar Games |
| The Witcher 3 | 65 | CD Projekt Red |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 40 | CD Projekt Red |
Read against each other, the two excerpts support a narrower claim than "small teams match large studios." Each small-team game sold more copies than Cyberpunk 2077 (40 million). Terraria (70 million) also sold more than The Witcher 3 (65 million). Grand Theft Auto V (230 million) sold more than Terraria, Human: Fall Flat, and Stardew Valley combined (178 million). A small team can reach the middle of this list. The top of the list is still a different tier.
Minecraft is kept as its own case. It began with a very small team and later became a platform published by a company Microsoft owns. Placing its 400 million copies into the small-team total would hide the other three rows.
Nintendo is the publisher on eight rows. No other publisher in the table appears that often. The eight games combine for 437.94 million copies, 18.2% of all copies in the dataset. Four of them are tied to one Nintendo console family: Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart Wii on Wii, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch. Mario Kart 8 was released on Wii U and then as Deluxe on Switch.
| Title | Sales | Platform | Year | How the copies were sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wii Sports | 82.9 | Wii | 2006 | Packed in with the Wii in most regions |
| Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe | 79.99 | Wii U / Switch | 2014 | Standalone release, later reissued on Switch |
| Super Mario Bros. | 58 | Multi-platform | 1985 | Standalone, later re-released |
| Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 50.29 | Nintendo Switch | 2020 | Standalone Switch release |
| Pokémon Red and Blue | 47.44 | Multi-platform | 1996 | Standalone, paired versions counted together |
| Wii Fit / Plus | 43.8 | Wii | 2007 | Sold with the Wii Balance Board |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | 38.14 | Nintendo Switch | 2018 | Standalone Switch release |
| Mario Kart Wii | 37.38 | Wii | 2008 | Standalone Wii release |
Wii Sports is the clearest pack-in. Wikipedia's best-selling list treats a large share of its 82.9 million copies as bundles that went out with the console. Wii Fit / Plus is the next hardware-tied row: the game was sold with the Balance Board. Leaving those two rows in the ranking is faithful to the source list. Reading them as ordinary standalone hits overstates how often players chose the game by itself. The glossary entry for pack-in states that limit in one place.
The same table also shows repeat series that are split across rows. Mario Kart 8 / Deluxe and Mario Kart Wii are one series and 117.37 million copies. Outside Nintendo, Call of Duty: Black Ops III (43 million) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (41 million) are one series and 84 million copies, with two developers and one publisher, Activision.
The list is top-heavy. The median game sold 50.15 million copies. The mean is 92.38 million because three games hold almost half of every copy in the table.
The 2010s hold the most rows. Fifteen first-release years fall in the 2010s, and those games hold about 58% of the copies. Tetris shows that a decade with two rows can still be huge.
Studio size is visible, and so is one franchise publisher. Small teams reach the middle of this list. Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V is still larger than those teams combined. Nintendo is the publisher that shows up most often, partly because two of its biggest rows traveled with hardware.