Video games haven’t always been as popular as it was today, as fewer people could afford a gaming system. However, as time passes, the level of income has gradually been increased, along with the streamlined gaming console and PC, which leads to more people investing their time and money on video games. Amongst those games which were released in the last ten years, here are the top 10 best sellers.
10 – Call of Duty: Black Ops (26.2 million)
Call of Duty: Black Ops was one of the most successful CoD releases in history, as it was released for all platforms, including the Nintendo DS. The number of contents that was included in that release was super high, as it is essentially 2 games for 1 purchase. The gameplay is just the usual shooter, with various game modes and a progression system.
Treyarch has been trying to replicate the success of the title, as Activision has been pushing out more and more Call of Duty every year.
9 – Red Dead Redemption 2 (26.5 million)
Sequel to the critically acclaimed Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead 2 was first released on the Xbox One and PS4 in 2018, with a PC and Stadia release a year after that. It is an open-world RPG with action-adventure elements in a western theme. The game was in development for eight years and is one of the most expensive video game ever developed.
The sheer quality of the game, with its vibrant world and well-written storylines, has earned it quite a few awards in 2018, including several “Game of the Year”. While it was released only 2 years ago, the game still manages to break into the top 10 best sellers.
8 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (26.5 million)
The other branch of Call of Duty was just as successful as Black Ops. Available on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and PC, Modern Warfare 3 was the biggest title released in 2011. Being a direct sequel to the successful Modern Warfare 2 of 2009, Modern Warfare 3 has a massive number of preorders – with 6.5 million copies shipped on Day 1.
The game was the final installment of the original Call of Duty timeline, with all the previous protagonists’ going for a final confrontation with Makarov for the last time.
7 – Terraria (27 million)
Released back in 2011 for PC, Terraria is often dubbed “Minecraft 2D” due to its similar sandbox adventure nature. Rode on the unexpected success, Re-Logic has been porting the game to every platform imaginable, from even the handheld 3DS to the PS4. The core gameplay is similar to other sandboxes, with action-adventure, killing monsters and building bases.
While the game is available on every platform, the PC version is still the best, as it can support mods. You would think the 2D aesthetics would limit creative freedom – however, that is not the case in Terraria.
6 – Mario Kart 8 (27.5 million)
Released in 2014 as a Wii U exclusive, Mario Kart 8 pretty much carry the Wii U on its shoulder alone. It was the best selling game on that system, with over 8 million copies shipped. The core gameplay of Mario Kart is rather simple – race as characters from the Mario series on fantastical race tracks while gathering various boosts on the road.
The game was ported to the Switch immediately when it was released in 2017, with similar success. In fact, it has even become the best selling game on the system, with almost 20 million more copies sold. As this is a platform exclusive title, Mario Kart 8’s achievement is actually way more formidable than it seems.
5 – Diablo 3 (30 million)
The long-awaited sequel of Diablo 2 was released for PC in 2012, with various ports made later for both PS3/4 and Xboxes, along with a Switch release in 2018. While the game was not nearly as good as its prequels, Blizzard has done an excellent job in marketing and porting it, squeezing out every single penny as they could from the release.
Every port mentioned above, along with various Special Editions and DLCs have brought Diablo 3 to the top 10 best sellers of this generation, with 30 million copies shipped. It is likely that Blizzard would be able to continue this trend, as Diablo 4 is on the horizon.
4 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (30 million)
Another multiplatform title, similar to Diablo 3 – Skyrim was originally released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011. Afterward, it was quickly ported to the PS4 and Xbox One in 2016, accompanied by a VR and Switch release in 2017. The “Bethesda released yet another version of Skyrim” has become an internet meme because of this.
TES V: Skyrim is definitely one of the most successful RPGs of all time, as Bethesda has perfected their formula after the previous entry, Oblivion. The easily moddable nature of the game is a huge plus, as it would extend the amount of content it has to almost infinity.
3 – Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (50 million)
PUBG is the first game that manages to create a true battle royale experience – and that is the reason behind its explosive success on release. The game was available for Xbox One and PC in 2017, with two ports for the PS4 and mobile a year afterward.
While its growth has slowed down greatly, at the time of its release, the game dwarfed every other game on Steam on both player count and concurrent players. In PUBG, 100 players would be dropped into a massive map to fight against each other until only one survive.
2 – Grand Theft Auto 5 (115 million)
The source of Rockstar’s infinite stream of money, GTA 5 was released back in 2013 and has been considered the benchmark for any open-world ever released since then. While the game was only available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at release, Rockstar did quickly ported it to other systems such as Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
While the single-player campaign of Grand Theft Auto 5 is amazing, it is the online mode that keeps the game alive all those years. In addition to those hundreds of millions in sales, GTA Online’s microtransaction has given the company about 6 billion dollars.
1 – Minecraft (180 million)
First released for PC in 2011, no one would have thought Minecraft would be able to become such a worldwide phenomenon. The open-world Sandbox action-adventure has gradually been ported to every major system and even mobile devices in the course of this decade. Along with its infinitely creative gameplay, Minecraft has become the best selling video game of all time.
YouTube played a big role in Minecraft’s success, with a lot of the site’s most popular videos made from the contents of the game.
Interested in more of our video games related articles? Please check out this post for the top 15 best Final Fantasy games.
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