Fortnite, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Super Mario or Grand Theft Auto: Even many non-gamers recognize at least some of these highly successful titles and franchises, be it by name or their cultural impact. When viewed through an economic lens, there are two game series that have dominated the sales charts in the United States for the past decade.
The first and overall leader in terms of total entries in the top 10 selling games in the U.S. between 2013 and 2022 according to market analysts at NPD Group is Call of Duty. The franchise has been present among the top sellers with 11 individual games since 2013, snagging the top spot every single year apart from two instances. In 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 trumped Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, while Grand Theft Auto V rushed to the top in 2013, followed by Call of Duty: Ghosts.
It's worth noting that while Call of Duty turned out to be a cash cow for its parent company, this success can't overshadow that Activision Blizzard, which is now owned by Microsoft, was at the center of several scandals surrounding alleged toxic workplace culture and sexual harassment over the past years.
The second and third spots are indicative of U.S. Americans' love for all things sports. The American Football simulation Madden was represented in the top 10 every single year, while Take-Two's NBA 2K series dropped out of the ranking of the best-selling games in the U.S. starting with NBA 2K21. Grand Theft Auto V remains a singularity in this ranking, though. While most other games managed to enter the top 10 with new franchise installments, Rockstar Games achieved this feat for five years with a single game.
