Top 22 Best Selling Video Games of Each Year (2000 - 2021)

Honestly, this wasn’t much of a surprise to see. By the time “Gold & Silver” launched, the world (or its kids, specifically) had gone into a frenzy over the pocket monsters. With more and more players finding satisfaction in battling and catching Pokemon, it only made sense that “Gold & Silver” would explode at this point. (After all, sequels usually sell far better than its predecessor, save for some rare exceptions.) Just how big was this game about to get? Well, the answer might surprise you, and if you thought a million pre-orders was ridiculous, you haven’t seen anything yet.

No, this was not an error in the script or video - “Pokemon Gold & Silver” would be the best-selling game of both its launch year AND the year after! Peter Main, who served as VP for Nintendo’s marketing and sales, attributed “Gold & Silver’s” massive success to the N64 title, “Pokemon Stadium”. Sure enough, the games managed to sell close to three million copies a few weeks after launch. Considering the many fantastic titles that also spawned in 2001 such as “Grand Theft Auto III” and “Super Smash Bros. Melee”, it’s kind of shocking to see a single franchise beat out IPs that are just as big today as they were back then.

Even though GTA III wasn’t big enough to take down King Pikachu and friends, “Vice City” would see cash flow in its launch year. By this point, GTA III had earned the franchise and developer Rockstar a notorious reputation among conservative media and politicians. Thing is that when you tell folks they can’t have something or why something is bad, it leads to them wanting it even more. “Vice City” sold half a million copies in its first day and another million within its first two days. As expected, it sparked the tired “video games cause violence” controversy we’ve been rolling our eyes at for the last couple decades.

With mom and dad having their own violent fun in Vice City, it was time for kids to give Nintendo even more money. There was much reason to be excited for “Ruby & Sapphire”; not only was this yet another “Pokemon” game, but it was a brand new one for the Game Boy Advance. Thanks to the then-two-year-old handheld, pocket monsters boasted more detail, better colors, and weirder robot-like noises. While it wouldn’t sell as well as the previous generations, “Ruby & Sapphire” still sold more than sixteen million copies and became the best-selling game on the Game Boy Advance.

Look, when it comes to “Grand Theft Auto”, “San Andreas” is the one regarded by many to be the absolute best. The controls were a bit more refined, the UI was improved, and most of all, the story helped bring in a new wave of narrative-focused, big budget titles. CJ’s vulgar and violent adventure drew in so many players (both old and young - you know who you are) that it launched “San Andreas” into global fame and infamy. In less than a week, the game sold more than two million copies and would surpass twelve million in its first six months.

Now, this one is a bit of a shocker. As much as we love our racing games here at WatchMojo, we would have never guessed one would become the best-selling game of its respective year, much less a “Gran Turismo” game. Granted this was the best-looking game in the franchise and boasted a higher graphical fidelity than its predecessor, “Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec”. Despite releasing in Japan at the tail end of 2004 (December 28, to be exact), GT4 would sell six million copies worldwide only a month after its North American launch in February 2005.

When it comes to the DS, many would probably guess “Mario Kart DS” or “Pokemon Diamond & Pearl” would become best-selling games for the system. However, “New Super Mario Bros.” took the proverbial cake and became the only DS game to be THE best-selling game of the year. Could you really blame folks for wanting this, though? It was classic 2D Mario with new music, new levels, and good simple fun. Anyone who had a DS back then was going to want this, and admittedly, we still to go back to it every now and again. “New Super Mario Bros.” would surpass one million units sold in roughly three months, and with certain consoles being hard to find around this time, it’s safe to assume competition wasn’t super fierce.

While millions were scrambling to find one, the Wii would become an insanely scarce console throughout its first year, which allowed “Wii Sports” to basically become the best-selling game of 2007. (Sure, this was a game bundled with the console, but numbers are numbers.) It also goes without saying that “Wii Sports” was the game that got millions of folks into video games, showing even older folks that video games weren’t just over-the-top violence and gore. There was some genuine fun to be had here, even if you were just swinging your arms with a remote in hand. The Wii (and “Wii Sports”) would outsell the combined sales of both the Sony PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Two years in a row!? You betcha. By this point, Nintendo had drastically increased production of the Wii as demand had ramped up. Sure enough, more Wiis available to the public lead to more parents scooping them up as soon as they saw it in the store, and “Wii Sports” was the launch game everyone could enjoy. Whether it be with younger siblings, parents, or even grandparents, everyone wanted to squeeze in a few rounds of bowling, tennis, and boxing. And just as we were getting into the thick of 2009, “Wii Sports” had managed to sell more than forty-five million copies! That’s a lot of iconic themes playing!

It was only a matter of time until we saw “Call of Duty” insert itself into the conversation, and anyone familiar with their history could have seen it coming. “Modern Warfare 2” was the talk of the town for months! Conservative media outlets were predictably doing the “video games cause violence” thing again, but the real draw was the online multiplayer. All of our friends were hopping on for wars in Nuketown, and even though the online experience wasn’t as great as it is today, it marked a moment in gaming history - a change in how games are designed for competitive audiences.

“Call of Duty” would see yet another year as a best-selling game thanks to “Modern Warfare 2’s” monumental success. That isn’t to downplay the quality in “Black Ops”, which birthed another series within the series. However, it wasn’t just the online deathmatch that was reeling players in. The famed “Zombies” horde mode made its return from “World of War” and would become a mainstay in the franchise from here on out. There was so much to love about “Black Ops” that the game managed to sell more than five million copies within its first DAY.

The year 2011 has pretty much become synonymous with “Minecraft”. Sure, there were dozens of great titles released this year, but “Minecraft” was a force to be reckoned with. This was the game that captured gamers old and young alike thanks to its immersive open world, unique visuals, and challenging survival mechanics. It also shaped YouTube’s gaming community, spawning hundreds of thousands of let’s plays as well as the careers of some of our favorite YouTubers. Months before its official release, “Minecraft” made millions just allowing users to access its Alpha and Beta builds. Just before its official release in November 2011, the game garnered sixteen million players.

Before 2012, “Diablo” had been dormant for well over a decade, “Diablo II” having launched in 2000. So, there was a lot of time between then and “Diablo III” for newcomers to discover the series. Sure enough, those fans came for “Diablo III” and left...er, somewhat satisfied. So many people had bought the game and were eager to play that the servers became overloaded, causing the dreaded Error 37 that prevented players from logging in. Regardless of this controversy, “Diablo III” would manage to sell over twelve million units in 2012, over three million of those being sold within its first day.

Before 2013, “Grand Theft Auto” had seen a wealth of success between “Vice City”, “San Andreas”, and the more modest “Grand Theft Auto IV”. GTA V, on the other hand, had some ambition for the series, juggling between three different protagonists and an improvement in visuals. And with so many kids having grown up playing or missed out on previous titles, there was a whole new generation of virtual degenerates waiting to run amok. Many expected the game to sell millions, but not as many as it did. GTA V didn’t become just the best-selling video game ever, but the biggest launch in entertainment history, selling more than eleven million copies in its first day and twenty-nine million six weeks after launch!

After the slight trip-up with “Ghosts”, it seemed like “Call of Duty” was ready to get back on track, and “Advanced Warfare” showed a ton of promise. Yes, we all were amped for the improved online gameplay and experiencing all the new maps. However, the campaign was much anticipated because of its featured celebrity - one Kevin Spacey (before the allegations during the #MeToo movement). While Spacey gave the game much appeal at the time, it has in turn made “Advanced Warfare” the game most would rather forget about. Nevertheless, it would top charts around the world.

Honestly, what reason was there to NOT own “The Witcher III”? This was the game that basically put CD Projekt on the map. The world was imaginative, the characters were deep and colorful, the quests were creatively structured with compelling stories, and the technical aspects were… Okay, they weren’t one hundred percent polished, but still, great game. The hype and quality behind “The Witcher III” was so massive that it wound up winning several Game of the Year awards from various outlets (including us), and it managed to sell six million copies in under two months.

This wasn’t the first “Pokemon” game to come to the 3DS handheld - we had a few before. And yet there was something about “Sun & Moon” that really spoke to people. Perhaps it was the inclusion of some new mechanics and features to change up the formula a bit? Mega Evolutions returned with the new Z-Move, an attack that can only be used one time in a battle, usually serving as a one-hit kill in most scenarios. Then, there was the inclusion of Dark and Alolan versions of different Pokemon. In under a month, “Sun & Moon” had sold more than seven million copies worldwide, and it would become GameStop’s best-selling game of 2016.

It’s the game that started the battle royale craze, and regardless of how you feel about the game today, PUBG was something you could not escape back in 2017. Well, before “Fortnite” stole the spotlight. Indeed, PUBG was all anyone wanted to play. The idea of you being alone against ninety-nine other people spoke to many, and it quickly spread across social media. It proved to be so popular that PUBG had garnered more than thirty million players by the end of 2017, generating almost a quarter shy of a billion dollars.

Five years is arguably plenty of time to make folks wait for your next big project, and “Red Dead Redemption 2” was bigger than big! A compelling story, a living and breathing world in the Western frontier, the life of an outlaw - it was the ultimate spaghetti western experience, and the online component made the deal even sweeter. For months, “Red Dead Redemption 2” had stolen the wind from almost every other game’s sails, and just like GTA V, it would make entertainment history by having the largest opening weekend ever. Despite only being on the market for a couple of months in 2018, RDR2 would sell more than twenty million copies.

Given “Call of Duty’s” increased staleness up to 2019, we wouldn’t blame one for not being hyped for this new “Modern Warfare”. No matter what reason you had for being excited or holding disdain, “Call of Duty”, once again, saw a best-selling game in 2019. Some were just glad that another CoD was here while those more informed on the game’s development were excited to see better graphical fidelity thanks to developer Infinity Ward’s new engine. “Modern Warfare” would end up breaking a handful of records and earned more than a billion dollars before the end of the year.

Ah, yes, the year 2020 will forever be remembered as one of humanity’s toughest periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roughly a month after lockdowns were taking effect, Nintendo put out their newest installment in the “Animal Crossing” franchise. “New Horizons” captured the hearts of many Switch owners and potentially caused a spike in Switch sales as folks were forced to isolate themselves from the outside world. Honestly, it was just nice to have cute and cuddly critters populate our islands as we shaped them to our liking and showed them off to friends. To no one’s surprise, it would be the best-selling game of 2020 with thirty-two million units sold before its one-year anniversary.

And back to “Call of Duty” we go. As the title suggests, this umpteenth entry in the franchise took us to an era not often explored in video games - the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. This alone might have been enough to garner interest from players (that and the success of “Warzone”), but this was also a cross-gen title, launching on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series XS. So, on one hand, you had players wanting something to experience on their new consoles while on the other, you had those who had yet to find the new machines. Just in digital sales, “Cold War” was able to sell nearly six million units before the end of 2020.