A look at the top 20 best-selling game series of the last 9 years

In its latest financial report, Ubisoft provides a look at the top 20 best-selling game series between 2005 and 2013.

[AceBlazer13]

To bad. Uncharted and Gran Turismo were 1 game shy of making it on the list.

Wow, there has been a lot of Halos in just 9 years. 8, almost 1 a year.

[bcrazy18]

I wasn't going to say anything but I figured I should. There have been only 5 halo games since 2005 not including Spartan assault so lets say 6... You're counting the first two installments even though they are outside the date range of the articles numbers... Please gather your facts before looking stupid lol. Everyone knows halo isn't an annually released franchise.

[SG1_dapunisherX]

@bcrazy18 he just mad halo made to the chart list. even gears made it lol, while uncharted didn't even make it while having more games then gears

[bcrazy18]

Wow I got disagrees for stating facts? Lol

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

Who would think Sonic is ahead of Gears of War in the last 9 years. I thought Sonic died off in the 90's or something.

[steve_ps]

@sg1_dapunisher

Just wondering; there are 4 gears of war games on the xb360, 3 Uncharted games on the ps3 (+ 1 if the vita is included). Maybe I'm wrong? Just wondering because you said uncharted had more games than gears?

[alexkoepp]

Funny no -$ony exclusives, though we all know Xbox is the premier games console with the best franchises

[zeuanimals]

I'm pretty sure having only one big exclusive a year kind of narrows down most people's choices on what to buy.

When Uncharted 2 came out, so did Killzone 2, inFAMOUS, Demon's Souls, GT5 Prologue, and more. When Uncharted 2 came out, so did Killzone 3, inFAMOUS 2, LBP2, Resistance 3, and more. That kind of makes it hard to choose. I know I only chose Uncharted 2 and Demon's Souls in 2009 but I wanted more but couldn't afford them. I also only got inFAMOUS 2 and Uncharted 2 but wanted more and couldn't get them.

When Halo Reach came out, the only other games were Fable 3 and Crackdown 2, two games considered to be the worst in their series. When Halo 4 came out, the only other game to come out was Forza Horizon, and I guess you can say The Witcher 2. Halo was the biggest and mostly the only exclusive people bought in the years the games came out.

Halo 3 was crazy though, the lineup for that year was pretty good with Forza 2, PGR4, Crackdown, Lost Odyssey, and Guilty Gear 2, but it still sold like crazy.

[awi5951]

@zeuanimals

You're a joke xbox had way more million dollar sellers across the board than ps3. Stop trolling boards and go buy some games.

[Zerotino]

@steve_ps - Technically there are 2 Uncharted games on the Vita. So you have uncharted 1-3 on the ps3, Then the Golden Abyss and Fight For Fortune on the Vita. So Uncharted has 5 games Vs The 4 Gears games.

[steve_ps]

@Zerotino

Didn't know about the card one. Regardless, this list doesn't seem to include mobile platforms so both vita games are irrelevant in that list.

[tommygunzII]

Of course Gears and Halo is on there. When it comes to exclusives, that's about all you have with Microsoft. Everyone with an Xbox probably has at least one of those games from those two franchises.

[Tedakin]

Halo 1 and 2 were longer than 9 years ago. And you can't really count Spartan Assault, I mean really.

[Derekvinyard13]

Gta is still on there even with its 4-6 years release cycle, most of those games have a yearly release cycle. Glad people still appreciate quality over games that look like a big add on of there predecessor

[DerrickCole]

I'm pretty sure it because GTA 5 is almost at $2 billion in sales right now.

[tommygunzII]

GTA in a class by itself on that list.

[hello12]

Microsoft had only three exclusives last gen, Gears, Halo and Fable.

Two of them are in the top twenty. PS3 has none. I think this chart is there for all to see. Microsoft exclusives were more popular.

[MysticStrummer]

The obvious argument is that PS3 users got a wider variety of games to choose from so sales were spread out over more IPs, but I suppose XB fans have to get their victories where they can find them these days.

: )

[aragon]

What's funny and actually true is that ps3 had way more exclusives and way more variety and the logic would be those are the only exclusives xboners could play so they would sell well, but lol and it's funny I remember one year one 360 exclusive outsold 4 ps3 exclusives put together so by that logic ms still wins because it seems like people on ps3 don't spend as much on software .....................what I'm trying to say is u said sales on ps3 were spread out over more ips but all those ips put together in a year didn't outsell one 360 exclusive in same time period. Right? Or are u going to deny that?

[MysticStrummer]

I'm not denying anything. Like I said, it's just the obvious argument, but I do wonder if this "selling more = better" train of thought applies to both PS3 and PS4.

Somehow I think it won't.

I can think of lots of best selling books/movies/games that I'd have nothing to do with. The same goes for popular TV shows.

For the record, this list didn't surprise me at all. I know certain XB exclusives sell a ton.

[SG1_dapunisherX]

so you telling me grand truismo 5 prologue, grand truismo 5 & 6 could not over throw sonic games??

[voodoochild346]

That's the biggest complaint I have regarding Sony fans in general. They ask Sony for games and Sony obliges with a wide variety of exclusive games only for Sony fans to not buy them as much as they should. They go to Sony and say, "You know what would be great? I could have console quality performance only in a handheld!". Then Sony listens and they come out with the psp and the vita. And then vita promptly sells poorly and the psp did sell poorly until the monster hunter craze hit Japan and people discovered that a hacked psp is a damn good emulation machine.

Sony fans like to brag about their exclusives (for good reason) but they don't support Sony enough by buying them. Meanwhile Xbox has very few big exclusives by comparison but they almost always sell(abominations like gears judgment excepted) to the point where it takes multiple big money exclusives to match one halo for example. Nintendo is even better with Mario Kart Wii selling 33 million.

The point is Sony nor any other company has unlimited funds. If Sony puts out great content and it's not bought, it is only a matter of time before Sony stops making those games.

[DerrickCole]

That's not really an excuse. I own a ps3 and bought every ps3 exclusive. There are some great games that deserve to be on that list, but it looks like most PlayStation gamers just don't buy very many games.

[rainslacker]

@voodoo

Sony's big hitters such as uncharted or GT or GOW sell just as well as MS big hitters. Sometimes one does a bit better than the other.

Off the top of my head Halo is about the only IP that consistently outpaces most of the Sony 1st party games averaging about 10 million on each release, but then Sony has GT(about 11 million), so it's kind of a wash I guess.

Looking at the PS3's overall exclusive sales it looks like the user base is just more diverse, so interested in different types of games.

Somewhere during last gen gamers got it in their heads that if games weren't doing COD numbers then they were flops. However most of Sony's mid-range releases still sell above 1 million copies, which is generally considered a success by any reasonable studio for games that don't cost 100 million to produce.

So, while you feel that Sony fans aren't supporting Sony by not buying games, that's just not really the case. The fact that Sony does make those games that people say flop is the reason so many people stick with Sony and have faith in them to keep on delivering.

[beerzombie]

Xbox fans have a lot of games to buy just because it is not exclusive doesn't not make a game. This generation has even showed this with titan fall leading two months in a row.
Xbox gamers buy games were Sony fans brag about games that they say are better. Psn giving away a lot of games will eventually hurt sales of top brands for you Sony gamers especially the young kids who are now being trained to wait for it to be free on Psn.

[awi5951]

@MysticStrummer

That's revisionist history. The xbox 360 had double the game attach rate than ps3. The xbox 360 owners bought twice the games than ps3 owners per console your argument fails hard. It just wasnt a few francises the xbox 360 had way more 1 million copy sales and that's why developers loved it so much. 3rd party developers made a killing on 360 sales wise.

[rivencleft]

Honestly, always being a playstation fan, the whole reason I bought an Xbox 360 years ago was for the exclusives, games like Fable, Allen Wake, Metro 2033, etc. made my decision easier, I've always like both systems equally but always being partial to my PS3 because it's where all my friends were and all my trophies, but even so I loved the 360 controller way more than the PS3's, and in a lot of games I always noticed that the graphics were a little better, know Left 4 Dead wasn't on PS3 but when I first played it on 360 I was amazed at how smooth the game played and looked. So definitely not surprised that many of the Xbox exclusives ended up on that list, as like I said myself and many others purchased a 360 just because of the exclusives. One of my biggest regrets was selling my 360 years ago because it wasn't getting much use at the time, especially since I've never played a Halo game in my life, i've always wanted to try it, have a PS4 now but I definitely want to pick up an Xbox One for the exclusives on that system, may finally get to try Halo after all with the new one coming out.

[Concertoine]

yeah 360 has a bad rep but theres a fair bit of variety on it. the last 5 games i played were lost odyssey, beautiful katamari, viva pinata, alan wake, and crackdown. all very different games, all exclusives or console exclusives. all neglected by people who say, "360 only has halo and gears" :l

[rivencleft]

@Concertoine

Alan Wake and Crackdown were awesome games, never got to play the others you mentioned, but they did have a lot of great console exclusives, just like Xbox One, and like PS3 and PS4.

[steve_ps]

I think it's a combination that xbox owners definitely backed microsoft exclusives when they came out like halo and gears and also that both those franchises had 4+ games over the last 9 years whereas not many Sony franchises had that many installments. A few had 3 games like uncharted and resistance, can't really think of any with 4 but I'm no expert!

[Concertoine]

god of war, gran turismo, LBP, sly cooper, killzone, ratchet and clank...

[steve_ps]

@ concertoine

The list is for the past 9 years and also doesn't seem to include portable systems. Therefore none of those series have released 4 games in the past 9 years, except r&c which didn't release full titles.

[eferreira]

They were more popular, but sony games won GOTY awards. So they both win

[Ol_G]

That's not how this works -_- .....

[awi5951]

And sold like crap dont forget that part.

[awi5951]

xbox 360 had alot of 3rd party exclusives especially in the first 4 years. Graw 1, condemned criminal origins, project gotham games, crack down games, all sold over 1 million. And elderscrolls and bioshock had a 1 year head start on 360 before the playstation version came out. Dead rising sold over 2 million. And Chromhounds was a great mech game even though it only sold 300k.

[Patrick_pk44]

PS3 had more of a variety of exclusive and that were actually quite better than the ones on Xbox 360. Halo, Gears, and what else was there to play on the 360? Demon Souls, MGS4, LBP, InFamous, Killzone, PSASBR, Resistance, Rachet and Clank, Journey, Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, The Last Of Us, Uncharted, Gran Turismo, God of War, Heavenly Sword, MAG, ICO & Shadow of Colossus Collection, Tokyo Jungle, Socom 4, etc were all on the PS3.

[awi5951]

Yeah but how many sold 1 million copies not many. The xbox 360 game attach rate was double the ps3 rate. So 360 owners were buying games like mad while the ps3 owners were trolling boards. Its sad games like the resistance didnt sell well and the company behind it is pretty much dead. You have to buy the great games you cant just talk about them.

[Zodiac]

Why would they leave out handhelds? The DS could easily make this list change.

[Ol_G]

It would be a ds only list with pokemon on top

[DoctorJones]

I'm seeing a lack of something. Can't quite put my finger on it.

[ritsuka666]

Terrible terrible list.talk about a lot of bad taste have gamers in this days.

[deafdani]

It seems like they just dumped ALL of the Mario games together in a single category only to be able to put other game series on the list.

Because I'm pretty sure that the New Super Mario Bros. series, along with Mario Kart, easily count among the best selling IPs ever. Not to mention the various games in the "Wii Something" series (Wii Fit, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Play, etc) which easily reach 20 million sales each, and more.

Oh, and it seems like they ignored portable releases. Where's Pokémon and Angry Birds? Those are damn big sellers, as well.

:P

[TekoIie]

Pretty sure Mario is the best selling IP in gaming. Worth noting that Donkey Kong and Yoshi games technically count as a part of the Mario franchise but Im not sure if they're counted.

[deafdani]

Yeah, I don't see how they could put Call of Duty above Mario. The Mario franchises I mentioned above sold better on Wii than any Call of Duty game on multiple platforms combined.

It just makes no sense.

[mohuzas]

Wii Sports sold over 80 Million alone!

[jcnba28]

Dat Nintendo dominance.

[CAB1802]

if COD was only a an exclusive, it would never hit the top 20

[Patrick_pk44]

Probably would because of the drones who still play that trash.

[Skate-AK]

Some good games on that list.

[RPGrinder]

pokemon not on means that list is false

[DerrickCole]

I'm really surprised not to see any Sony games up there. The last of us and uncharted deserve to be on this list more than some that actually are but I guess Sony gamers don't buy games.

Btw I own and bought every Microsoft and Sony system and exclusive.

[Jubez187]

Sony exclusive games don't sell that well. Sony has a wider range of audience than xbox. Xbox players just all love their shooters and sports games. In the sony world people love indies, JRPGs, some shooters, some action games, list goes on.

[Spotie]

Can we stop with this? Just because EVERY Sony exclusive doesn't sell like Uncharted doesn't mean nobody bought them. Whether you want to admit it or not, the higher number of exclusives on the PS3 ARE a hindrance to sales. Obviously, that's bit a problem on the 360.