The UK’s biggest selling video game franchises ever are FIFA, CoD and Mario

FIFA, Call of Duty and Super Mario are the biggest video game franchises in UK history in terms of boxed-only sales, according to retail data.

As reported by Gi.Biz using information gained from GfK, the football simulator has dominated the charts with Call of Duty coming in second place.

In the 30-year span that the data covers, Call of Duty has released 32 games while the FIFA series, including spin-offs, has released 50. As Gi.Biz notes, while FIFA is annualised, offshoots like FIFA Street and the various tournament-themed releases such as FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 are also included in the data.

The Mario franchise, which GI notes includes all of Mario’s sub-brands such as Mario Kart, and the various Mario sports games is in third place. The biggest selling titles include Mario Kart Wii and the perenially chart-occupying Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

FIFA 22 review – video version

Rockstar‘s Grand Theft Auto series is the fourth best selling video game franchise in UK history. According to the data, Grand Theft Auto 5, which has been released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, the PC, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2014 and the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles in 2022 makes up 40% of the franchises’ overall sales.

It’s worth noting that the retail version of GTA 5 on PS5 and XSX consoles have yet to release, so are not currently counted in the data.

In a quote provided to GamesIndustry.biz, Dorian Bloch, GfK’s senior client insight director for Gaming 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.”

It’s worth noting that the list is heavily skewed by the lack of digital sales, especially where it pertains to franchises that have released fewer titles since the increase in digital market share, such as Harry Potter, Wii Fit and the Guitar/DJ Hero franchise.


The UK Top 30 Selling Video Game Brands by Revenue

Via Gi.biz

No. Name Title Count Series Start Publisher
1 FIFA 50 1993 EA
2 Call of Duty 32 2003 Activision Blizzard
3 Mario 109 1987 Nintendo
4 Grand Theft Auto 21 1997 Rockstar
5 LEGO 77 1997 Warner/LucasArts/TT Games/Eidos
6 Star Wars 113 1983 EA/LucasArts/Warner
7 The Sims 106 2000 EA
8 Pokémon 93 1999 Nintendo
9 Assassin’s Creed 27 2007 Ubisoft
10 Need For Speed 30 1994 EA
11 Sonic 55 1991 Sega
12 WWE and WWF 61 1987 Take-Two/THQ/Acclaim
13 Marvel 106 1982 Sony/Warner/Square Enix
14 Wii Fit 3 2008 Nintendo
15 Tom Clancy 72 1997 Ubisoft
16 Guitar Hero/DJ Hero 18 2006 Activision Blizzard
17 Pro Evolution Soccer 22 2001 Konami
18 Skylanders 6 2011 Activision Blizzard
19 Battlefield 30 2002 EA
20 Tomb Raider 31 1996 Eidos/Square Enix
21 Halo 15 2001 Microsoft
22 DC 43 1986 Warner/EA/Square/Telltale
23 Formula One 66 1992 Codemasters/EA/Sony
24 Gran Turismo 13 1998 Sony
25 Forza 13 2005 Microsoft
26 Harry Potter 13 2001 EA/Warner
27 Crash Bandicoot 22 1996 Activision/Vivendi/Sony
28 The Olympic Games 20 1992 Sega/Nintendo/Eidos/Konami/T2
29 Zelda 35 1987 Nintendo
30 PGA Tour Golf 46 1990 EA/Take-Two