30 Years of PlayStation: The Best-Selling Games Ever

On September 9, 1995, the Sony PlayStation released in North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico), nine months after debuting in Japan. Since then, the PlayStation platform has gone on to have the best-selling console of all time in the PlayStation 2 and feature some of the greatest games ever released. But what are the best-selling PlayStation games?

Thanks to data from Circana, that answer is available. Looking at data up through July 2025, the best-selling games in the history of the platform include a lot of the same franchise. Call of Duty, a franchise over 20 years old, appears an astounding nine times in the top 20 units sold and 11 when it comes to dollars earned. There are even some games that earned the most money but didn’t move the most units.

You can check out the full lists, including the differences between the two, below.

Best-Selling PlayStation Games Ever

The data from Circana looks at the best-selling PlayStation games both in terms of dollars and units sold. And while you may think it would be close to the same order, there are some drastic differences thanks to the price of games varying over the years.

PlayStation Games In Units Sold

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Minecraft
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
6. Marvel’s Spider-Man
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
9. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
11. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
12. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
13. The Last of Us
14. God of War (2018)
15. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
16. Call of Duty: Black Ops
17. Rainbow Six: Siege [Tom Clancy’s]
18. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
19. Call of Duty: WWII
20. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

PlayStation Games In Dollars Earned

1. Grand Theft Auto V
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
3. Red Dead Redemption II
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops: Cold War
7. Minecraft
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
9. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
10. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
11. Marvel’s Spider-Man
12. Call of Duty: Black Ops II
13. Call of Duty: Black Ops
14. Call of Duty: WWII
15. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
16. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
17. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
18. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
19. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
20. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

What do you think of the best-selling PlayStation games, and which games are your favorite? Let us know down below, and take the discussion further in the Insider Gaming forums.

For more Insider Gaming, read about Bend Studio hiring for a new multiplayer game. And don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter. 

Written by

Mike Straw

Executive Editor

Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…

More from Mike Straw

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