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Believe it or not, these are the 10 highest grossing video games of all time

Published Jul 9th, 2015 6:45PM EDT
Highest Grossing Video Games of All Time
Image: Nintendo

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When you think of the most popular video games, a few titles probably come to mind: Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, The Legend of Zelda. Each of these franchises has millions of fans all over the globe, but not a single one even cracks the top 25 on the list of highest grossing video games of all time.

READ MORE: Nintendo May Kill Off the Wii U Sooner Than Any of Us Expected

Although many of those franchises are represented on the list of best-selling games in history, they just haven’t brought in as much cash as some all-time classics you’re sure to recognize. Upon discovering this list, I was taken aback by just how many arcade games had brought in billions for their publishers over the past few decades.

I was also surprised to see not one, but two Wii titles that aren’t even really games. One is basically a tech demo that shipped with the console (which, to be fair, inflates its number significantly), and the other is a workout companion.

Anyway, according to the latest figures compiled by Encyclopedia Gamia (and pulled from the Video Game Sales Wiki), these are the 10 video games that have generated the most revenue in the history of the medium, adjusted for inflation in 2015:

Space Invaders

Pac-Man

Street Fighter II

World of Warcraft

CrossFire

Wii Sports

Lineage

Wii Fit

Donkey Kong

Dungeon Fighter Online

Released: 1978

Released: 1980

Released: 1991

Released: 2004

Released: 2007

Released: 2006

Released: 1998

Released: 2007

Released: 1981

Released: 2005

Revenue: $13.9 billion

Revenue: $12.8 billion

Revenue: $10.6 billion

Revenue: $8.4 billion

Revenue: $6.3 billion

Revenue: $6.1 billion

Revenue: $5.7 billion

Revenue: $5.0 billion

Revenue: $4.4 billion

Revenue: $4.0 billion

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.