The global success of Tetris took the iconic video game from Soviet Union to Game Boy

Throughout the promotional campaign, the game was touted as one of the highest-selling video game titles to date – but where does Tetris actually rank in the all-time best-selling titles?

Is Tetris one of the best-selling video games of all time?

Yes, Tetris is indeed one of the best-selling video games of all time and if you are flexible with your parameters, this classic title is actually the single highest-selling video game title ever!

The original Tetris title from 1989 (the one from the new Taron Egerton movie) sold 70 million units; however, around half of these copies were included in the Nintendo Game Boy bundle.

Then we have the fact that Tetris has had multiple different versions and formats over its release cycle, making any assessment of total units sold rather subjective regarding paid vs free units. This includes the 2006 re-release of Tetris by Electronic Arts, which added around 100 million copies to its lifetime collection.

Therefore, when including all of the paid downloads on mobile and tablet devices, Tetris has technically sold more than 520 million copies and is indeed the highest-selling video game of all time.

In reality, if you do only survey the number of copies sold from physical (non-digital), paid, and individual units (non-bundles), the best-selling titles of all time include:

1. Minecraft (2011) – 240 million copies
2. Grand Theft Auto V (2013) – 175 million copies
3. Tetris EA (2006) – 100 million copies
4. Wii Sports (2006) – 82.9 million copies
5. PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017) – 75 million copies
6. Mario Kart 8 (2014) – 64.4 million copies
7. Super Mario Bros (1985) – 58 million copies
8. Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) – 50 million copies
9. Overwatch (2016) – 50 million copies
10. Pokémon Gen 1 (1996) – 47.5 million copies
11. Terraria (2011) – 44.5 million copies
12. Wii Fit/Plus (2007) – 43.8 million copies
13. Tetris (1989) – 43 million copies
14. Pac-Man (1980) – 42 million copies
15. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020) – 41.5 million copies

Director of the new movie Jon S Baird explained to Collider how Tetris has become of the grandfathers of modern video games because it is “a game that [there are] so many different levels to, and there are so many different implementations of having success for Tetris. Whether it’s your grandmother playing it for the first time and she’s got one line and it disappears, and that’s a huge victory for her.”

“You know, and I think that’s a great thing about Tetris, the rewards are very instant when it comes to that, you know? Everybody remembers Tetris, of a certain sort of generation, especially because of the launch of the Game Boy with it, and it’s a game that’s kind of seeped into the fabric of society. It feels like one of the grandfathers of modern gaming, it just feels a bit like that.”

The Tetris Company themselves describes the iconic video game “as one of the most recognizable and influential video game brands in the world, [so] it’s no wonder why there are hundreds of millions of Tetris products being played, worn, and enjoyed by fans in their everyday lives.”

“For over thirty-five years, the game and brand have truly transcended the barriers of culture and language, resulting in a fun and exciting playing experience for everyone, everywhere!”

In terms of player count, Tetris is approximately the 20^th most-played video game of all time across its paid/free-to-play releases.

As a franchise, Tetris is also considered to be the second best-selling video game franchise of all time, ranked: Mario, Tetris, Pokémon, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, FIFA, Minecraft, Wii, Lego, and The Sims.

By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]

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