Twenty years ago, we were in 2004, one of the best years in the history of gaming. So many games have come out since then, and the industry has gone through so many changes. Did a series manage to rule all others sales-wise? Is it the series you’d expect? Can you guess the highest-selling games of the past two decades?
Fortunately, you don’t have to think too hard about it. Consumer behavior advisory firm Circana, known for its in-depth research into video game data, released its findings of thetop 20 best-selling gamesfor the past decade. At the top of the list each year is more than a few surprises.
2004:Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2004 was the year when Rockstar cemented their flagship IP as the most successful video game series in the world. Even the massiveHalo 2came out in second. Madden NFL 2005 came in third; another series you better get used to seeing on this list.
2005:Madden NFL 06
You’d think it was the absence of a GTA or Halo release that allowed for the Madden series to get the top spot, but we also had the release of Resident Evil 4 — which doesn’t even show up on the podium. The originalStar Wars: Battlefront II— the one without all the bugs at launch — came out in second. TheCall Of Dutyseries was beginning to show its teeth by claiming the third spot.
2006:Madden NFL 07
ThoughGears Of Warwas by far the most popular game of ’07, it was yet another first place for theMaddenseries.Gears Of Warmanaged to come in second, withNCAA Football 07claiming the third spot.
2007:Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
2007 was a massive year forGuitar Hero, as the third game in the series got the top spot, andGuitar Hero 2managed to be third.Madden NFL 08got the second place this time around.
2008:Rock Band
2008 was another great year for Harmonix (how the tables have turned) with Rock Band, the studio’s most ambitious title, claiming the top spot, and Guitar Hero: World Tour claiming the runner-up spot.Wii Fitcame out in third.
2009:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
And this was whenCall of Dutytruly began to rule the world.Modern Warfaremanaged to beat out the hugeWii Fitto claim the top spot, andNew Super Mario Bros.Got the third spot.
2010:Call of Duty: Black Ops
Another year, another victory lap forCall of Duty, this time withBlack Opsgetting the top spot.Halo: Reach’svaliant efforts got it the second place, andWii Fit Plusremained a solid seller in third place.
2011:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Let’s just talk about the second and third place, shall we? Even the massively successfulThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimfell toModern Warfare 3, and the Madden series returned to third place on the podium withMadden NFL 12.
2012:Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Halo 4is one of the most divisive entries in the series, but it came out surfing a wave of immense hype following the passing of the torch to 343 Industries. Whether or not it was deserving of the hype,Halo 4once again managed to cling only the second place toBlack Ops II’sgold.Madden NFL 13gets the bronze medal once again.
2013:Grand Theft Auto V
Finally, the only series that could ever hope to beatCall Of Dutydoes it.Call Of Dutydoesn’t fall much behind, though, as even the so-soCall Of Duty: Ghostsmanages to get the second place. The Madden series goes three-for-three asMadden NFL 25: 1989 – 2014once again gets the third spot.
2014:Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Advanced WarfaresawCall Of Dutygo back to its natural habitat, while the originalDestinyreached the second position.Grand Theft Auto Vbegan to hint at its amazing longevity by getting the third spot.
2015:Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Guess who got the first place in 2015. Not even the highly anticipatedFallout 4could stopBlack Ops IIIfrom getting the top spot.Grand Theft Auto Vstayed in a very comfortable third place.
2016:Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Infinite Warfaretook the first spot againstBattlefield 1, a game many hoped could finally dethrone theCODseries. It did not.Tom Clancy’s The Divisiongot the third place.
2017:Call of Duty: WWII
In a redo of 2014, the newest iteration ofCall Of Dutyleaves the newest iteration ofDestiny, Destiny 2, in the second place.NBA 2K comes back to the scoreboard asNBA 2K18gets the third place.
Rockstar did it again in 2018 whenRed Dead Redemption IIwas finally able to beat that year’s iteration ofCall Of Duty, Black Ops 4. NBA 2K19got the third place.
2019:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Everything goes back to normal in 2019, where theModern Warfareremake claims the top spot, andNBA 2K20andMadden NFL 20claim the second and third places, respectively.
2020:Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
2020 was an even better-than-usual year for theCall Of Dutyseries, as it got the top spot withCold War, andModern Warfarestayed on the podium to take second place.NBA 2K21got the third place.
2021:Call of Duty: Vanguard
Another year, anotherCODin first, anotherNBA(2K22) in second, and yet anotherCODin third, withCold Warstaying for the third place.
2022:Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
ThoughElden Ringwas easily the most talked about and beloved game of 2022, the top spot went to, you guessed it, anotherCODgame.NBA 2K23came back to get yet another third place.
2023:Hogwarts Legacy
And in an absolute monkey paw-type scenario, the COD series got beaten to first place in 2023 by the absolutely vile Hogwarts Legacy. Another twist was the absence of the NBA 2K series and the resurgence of Madden, withMadden NFL 24coming in third.
