Brand new analysis from data company GfK has revealed the UK’s top 30 best-selling video game franchises since 1995. And the top two have a presence on the esports stage worldwide.
Ranked in order of revenue generated, the top-grossing game is FIFA, followed by Call of Duty, and then the Mario series. Grand Theft Auto and Lego round out the top five.
In total, the top 30 titles have earned over £26bn in the last 27 years.
FIFA publisher EA Sports has dropped at least one new FIFA game every year since the 1993 debut of FIFA International Soccer on the Sega Megadrive. With 50 releases scored (29 in the main series), there was even a year with four distinct FIFA iterations (2006 saw FIFA Street 2, FIFA World Cup Germany 2006, FIFA 07, FIFA Manager 07). But since 2015 it has become one main series release per year.
It’s the same strategy at the number two ranked Call of Duty franchise published by Activision, which first launched a full 10 years after FIFA’s first game, with 32 iterations and 19 annual releases in the main series. Launched on PC in 2003, the FPS series’ high points are 2010’s Black Ops and 2011’s Modern Warfare 3.
Here’s the full top ten:
Looking at Grand Theft Auto, it’s GTA V which has generated 40% of the franchise’s life sales since the first title launched in 1997.
GfK’s senior client insight director for gaming, Dorian Bloch, said: “This is a fascinating list and anyone who has been following the development of the video game industry as I have will no doubt show little surprise at the sheer value, size, and breadth of this market. What was once seen as a niche sector is now an unquestionably mainstream market generating billions in revenue annually.
“The characters in these games have become much-loved heroes, from Lara Croft to Luigi and Mario, to Sonic the Hedgehog. Terms used in the franchises have entered our vocabulary, and there are more than a few gamers who could navigate their way around the outskirts of San Francisco from their time at the wheel of a stolen car in GTA.”
In recent FIFA and Call of Duty esports news, Norwich won the 2021/22 ePremier League on the weekend, and the London Royal Ravens CoD team secured second seed for the upcoming CoD League Major Two.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
