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PC sales figures

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This article lists PC sales figures. The best selling personal computer (PC) game of all time is PUBG, after it surpassed The Sims.

Market research firm, NPD Group only began tracking online subscription in February 2008. As of June 2008, they do not track microtransactions or digital downloads.[1] Issued quarterly, the Video Game & PC Game Subscriptions Report will be based on data collected from over 3 million survey participants and include information on online subscriptions to MMO games and digital downloads. According to NPD Group, online subscriptions generate $1 billion annually. [2]

Sales revenues[]

See also: PC gaming, Steam, and Video game industry

Worldwide PC game industry:

  • 2017 - $33 billion[1]

The largest PC gaming markets:

  1. China China – $13.1 billion (2016)[2]
  2. United States United States – $5.3 billion (2017)[3]
  3. South Korea South Korea – $2.34 billion (2016)[4]
  4. Japan Japan – $1.8 billion (2015)[5]
  5. Germany Germany – $1.4 billion (2015)[5]
  6. United Kingdom United Kingdom – $800 million (2016)[6]
  7. Russia Russia – $600 million (2016)[7]

United States PC game industry:

2000s[]

2008[]

2007[]

PC sales 2007 in review

2002[]

1990s[]

1980s[]

Video games pioneered the home computer revolution in the early 1980s.[9]

This section lists the sales of video games released for older 1980s personal computer platforms, such as the Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, FM-7, FM Towns, MSX, NEC PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1 and X68000. The computer game industry was much smaller when these platforms were active, but gradually increasing; the best-selling computer game up until 1980 sold 50,000 copies,[10] a major hit in 1983 would have sold around 50,000 copies, and a major hit in 1985 would have sold around 150,000 copies.[11] As such, the threshold is at least 35,000 sales for titles released up until 1982, 50,000 for titles released in 1983, and at least 100,000 sales for titles released from 1984 onwards.

Game Release year Copies sold Market Sales as of Ref
Last Ninja 2 1988 5,500,000 Worldwide 2000 [12]
The Last Ninja 1987 4,000,000 Worldwide 1995 [12]
Pac-Man 1983 2,000,000 USA 1989 [13]
Ghostbusters 1984 2,000,000 Worldwide 1989 [14]
Kung-Fu Master 1985 2,000,000 Worldwide 1985 [15]
International Karate 1985 1,500,000 Worldwide 1995 [16]
Hydlide 1984 1,000,000 Japan 1990 [17][18]
Thexder 1985 1,000,000 Worldwide 1990 [19]
RoboCop 1988 1,000,000 Worldwide 1991 [20]
Lode Runner 1983 1,000,000 Worldwide 1999 [21][22]
Elite 1984 1,000,000 Worldwide 1996 [23]
Rick Dangerous 1989 1,000,000 Worldwide 1991 [24]
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? 1985 800,000 Worldwide 1989 [25]
Karate Champ 1985 500,000 USA 1989 [25][22]
The Death Trap 1984 500,000 Japan 1985 [26]
Jet Set Willy 1984 500,000 Europe 2000 [27]
The Way of the Exploding Fist 1985 500,000 Europe 1986 [28]
Football Manager 1982 500,000 Europe 1988 [29]
The Hobbit 1982 500,000 Worldwide 1989 [28]
Wizardry 1981 500,000 Worldwide 1989 [25]
California Games 1987 500,000 Worldwide 1989 [22]
The Bard's Tale 1985 407,000 Worldwide 1989 [30]
Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II 1985 400,000 Japan 1985 [31][32][33]
Sokoban 1982 400,000 Japan 1988 [34]
Karateka 1984 400,000 Worldwide 1991 [35]
Zork 1980 378,987 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Out Run 1987 375,000 UK 1988 [37][38]
Sabre Wulf 1984 350,000 Worldwide 2007 [39]
Skyfox 1984 317,545 Worldwide 1986 [40]
Hyper Olympic 1 (Track & Field 1) 1984 300,000 Japan 1989 [41]
The Bard's Tale 1985 300,000 Worldwide 2003 [42]
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar 1985 300,000 Worldwide 1990 [43]
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 1984 254,249 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Karnov 1987 250,000 USA 1988 [22]
Ring King 1988 250,000 USA 1988 [22][44]
F-15 Strike Eagle 1984 250,000 USA 1987 [22]
Dungeon Master 1987 250,000 Worldwide 1995 [45]
Door Door 1983 200,000 Japan 1985 [46]
1942 1986 200,000 UK 1986 [47]
Gauntlet 1986 200,000 UK 1987 [48]
Zork II 1981 173,204 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Chessmaster 2000 1986 160,000 Worldwide 1987 [49]
The Black Onyx 1984 150,000 Japan 1986 [50]
The Seven Cities of Gold 1984 150,000 Worldwide 2003 [51]
Wishbringer 1985 150,000 Worldwide 2014 [52]
Deadline 1982 140,719 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Zork III 1982 129,232 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Ultima III: Exodus 1983 120,000 Worldwide 2008 [53]
Zaxxon 1983 100,000 USA 1985 [22]
Will: The Death Trap II 1985 100,000 Japan 1986 [54]
Chuck Yeager's Advanced Flight Trainer 1987 100,000 Worldwide 1987 [55]
Paperboy 1986 100,000 Worldwide 1989 [56]
Suspended 1983 99,956 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Starcross 1982 90,315 Worldwide 1986 [36]
Mystery House 1980 80,000 Worldwide 2003 [57]
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken 1983 60,000 Japan 1983 [58]
Choplifter 1982 60,000 Worldwide 1983 [59]
Wizard and the Princess 1980 60,000 Worldwide 2010 [60]
Microchess 1976 50,000 Worldwide 1980 [10]
Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness 1981 50,000 Worldwide 1990 [61]
Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress 1982 50,000 Worldwide 1990 [62]
Temple of Apshai 1979 40,000 USA 1982 [32]
K-Razy Shoot-Out 1982 35,000 USA 1982 [63]
Apple Galaxian 1980 5,000 USA 1980 [64]

1970s[]

The following table lists the best-selling personal computers in the 1970s.

Rank Computer Manufacturer Year Sales As of Generation Ref
1 TRS-80 Tandy 1977 450,000 1979 8-bit [65]
2 NEC PC-8001 NEC 1979 150,000 1979 8-bit [66]
3 Atari 400 / 800 Atari 1979 100,000 1979 8-bit [65]
4 Commodore PET Commodore 1977 79,000
5 Apple II Apple 1977 43,200
6 Altair 8800 MITS 1975 25,000 1978

Computer sales[]

The following table lists the sales milestones of best-selling personal computers.

Year Computer Manufacturer Sales milestone Generation Ref
1974 Sord SMP80/20 Sord 1 8-bit [67]
1975 Altair 8800 MITS 5,000 8-bit [65]
1976 11,000
1977 Altair 8800 MITS 21,000
TRS-80 Tandy 100,000
1978 TRS-80 Tandy 250,000
1979 450,000
1980 740,000
1981 990,000
1982 Atari 400 / 800 Atari 1,200,000
TRS-80 Tandy 1,290,000
1983 TRS-80 Tandy 1,490,000 8-bit
Atari 400 / 800 Atari 1,700,000
Commodore 64 Commodore 2,200,000 8-bit
1984 Commodore 64 Commodore 4,700,000 8-bit
1985 7,200,000
1986 9,700,000
1987 11,200,000
1988 12,450,000
1989 13,700,000
1990 14,400,000
1991 15,200,000
1992 15,500,000
1993 15,675,000

References[]

  1. ↑ http://strivesponsorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/SuperData-2017-year-in-review-digital-games-and-interactive-media.pdf
  2. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-07-05-chinese-games-market-is-the-worlds-biggest-at-USD25-6bn
  3. ↑ https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/xbox-one-x-microsoft-fights-back-booming-console-market/
  4. ↑ https://technology.ihs.com/592232/games-market-monitor-korea-pc-online-games-market-2016
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-08-02-pc-games-revenue-to-hit-usd42-billion-in-2020-dfc
  6. ↑ https://newzoo.com/insights/infographics/the-uk-games-market-2016/
  7. ↑ https://newzoo.com/insights/infographics/russian-games-market-2016/
  8. ↑ https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/xbox-one-x-microsoft-fights-back-booming-console-market/
  9. ↑ High-tech Society: The Story of the Information Technology Revolution. 1987. p. 155.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Personal Software Introduces Backgammon & Checkers Programs". Intelligent Machines Journal. January 21, 1980. p. 10. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ Katz, Arnie (January 1985). "1984: The Year That Shook Electronic Gaming". Electronic Games 3 (35): 30–31 [30]. https://archive.org/stream/electronic-games-magazine-1985-01/Electronic_Games_Issue_35_Vol_03_11_1985_Jan#page/n29/mode/2up. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Mark Cale interrogation". Retro Gamer (18): 56–57 (57). October 2005.
  13. ↑ Pac-Man
  14. ↑ Advokat, Stephen (August 31, 1989). "Movies hit a smaller screen". Detroit Free Press. p. 19. Retrieved October 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Kung-Fu Master
  16. ↑ Fox, Matt (3 January 2013). The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012, 2d ed. McFarland & Company. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7864-7257-4. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  17. ↑ John Szczepaniak, History of Japanese Video Games, Kinephanos, ISSN 1916-985X
  18. ↑ John Szczepaniak (2016), The Untold History Of Japanese Game Developers, Volume 2, pages 38-49
  19. ↑ "Back Cover", Fire Hawk: Thexder The Second Contact (Game Arts & Sierra On-Line), 1990, https://www.mobygames.com/game/64/fire-hawk-thexder-the-second-contact/cover/group-1984/cover-81/, retrieved February 10, 2012
  20. ↑ Mellor, Robert (January 2008). "The Making Of: RoboCop". Retro Gamer. No. 46. Future Publishing. pp. 62–65. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  21. ↑ "Lock'n'Lode". IGN. Ziff Davis. February 17, 1999. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 Petska-Juliussen, Karen; Juliussen, Egil (1990). The Computer Industry Almanac 1990. New York: Brady. pp. 3.10–15. ISBN 978-0-13-154122-1.
  23. ↑ https://ia802704.us.archive.org/31/items/nextgen-issue-021/Next_Generation_Issue_021_September_1996.pdf#page=70
  24. ↑ https://www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com/bluesbro.htm
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Worley, Joyce (December 1989). "Mega Hits: The Best of the Best". Video Games & Computer Entertainment (11): 130–132, 137, 138. https://archive.org/details/video-games-computer-entertainment-issue-11-december-1989/page/n133.
  26. ↑ "Hironobu Sakaguchi : 'The Lost Art of Telling a Story'". Gameblog (in French). 4 September 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  27. ↑ https://archive.org/details/RetroGamer_No1-No11/Retro%20Gamer%20%E2%84%9607/page/n23/mode/2up
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Beam Software Company History". Beam Software. Archived from the original on October 21, 1997. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  29. ↑ https://ia800700.us.archive.org/12/items/cvg-magazine-099/CVG_099_Feb_1990.pdf#page=46
  30. ↑ Maher, Jimmy (November 21, 2016). "Memos from Digital Antiquarian Corporate Headquarters". The Digital Antiquarian.
  31. ↑ "Xanadu Next home page". Retrieved September 8, 2008.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Hendricks, Fayyaad (December 22, 2011). "A complete history of role-playing videogames: Part 2". EL33TONLINE. Archived from the original on 2012-01-15. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  33. ↑ Koyama, Yusuke (2023-06-02). History of the Japanese Video Game Industry. Springer Nature. p. 31. ISBN 978-981-99-1342-8.
  34. ↑ Green, W., ed. (1988). "Made in Japan". InCider 6: 158. https://books.google.com/books?id=M2NRAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  35. ↑ https://www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com/princepe.htm
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 36.2 36.3 36.4 36.5 36.6 "Great Scott: Infocom's All-Time Sales Numbers Revealed". GameSetWatch. Think Services. September 20, 2008. Archived from the original on September 24, 2008. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  37. ↑ "Game of the Year". Your Sinclair. No. 28 (April 1988). 10 March 1988. pp. 64–5.
  38. ↑ "Amiga". Crash. No. 55 (August 1988). 28 July 1988. p. 71.
  39. ↑ Parrish, Peter (October 18, 2007). "Sabrewulf". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved August 19, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  40. ↑ "Skyfox". Ray Tobey. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  41. ↑ "BCNニュースのＭＳＸ記事が熱い？！". ＭＳＸ研究所日記 (in Japanese). 2008-11-09. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  42. ↑ Wilson, Rusel DeMaria; Johnny L. (2003). High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2. ed.). New York [u.a.]: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. p. 209. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ↑ The Official Book of Ultima, second edition, by Shay Addams, page 56
  44. ↑ Staff (November 1989). "Chart-Busters; SPA Platinum". Game Players. No. 5. p. 112.
  45. ↑ https://www.amigareviews.leveluphost.com/dungeonl.htm
  46. ↑ Fujii, Daiji (2003). "Entrepreneurial Choices of Strategic Options in Japan's RPG Development" (PDF). p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2006.
  47. ↑ 1942 (ZX Spectrum) Manual
  48. ↑ "Out Run". Crash (49): 22–23. February 1988. ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/magazines/Crash/Issue49/Pages/. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  49. ↑ "Games That Grownups Play". Time 130: 196. 1987. https://books.google.com/books?id=bjwnAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  50. ↑ Edge Staff (March 6, 2008). "THE MAKING OF... Japan's First RPG". next-gen.biz. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  51. ↑ Wilson, Rusel DeMaria; Johnny L. (2003). High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2. ed.). New York [u.a.]: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. p. 176. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  52. ↑ Maher, Jimmy (April 10, 2014). "Wishbringer". The Digital Antiquarian.
  53. ↑ Barton, Matt (May 26, 2008). "Book Extract: Dungeons and Desktops: 'The Silver Age'". Gamasutra. p. 4. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  54. ↑ Fujii, Daiji (2003). "Entrepreneurial Choices of Strategic Options in Japan's RPG Development" (PDF). p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2008. Retrieved August 12, 2006. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |curly= (help)
  55. ↑ "Yeager Leads Video Games Resurgence". Press-Courier. December 13, 1987. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  56. ↑ https://www.zx-spectrum.cz/zxsr/zxsr.php?id=3603
  57. ↑ Wilson, Rusel DeMaria; Johnny L. (2003). High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games (2. ed.). New York [u.a.]: McGraw-Hill/Osborne. p. 135. ISBN 0-07-223172-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  58. ↑ "潮 [Tide]" (in Japanese). 潮 (372-374): 361. 1990. https://books.google.com/books?id=DHI3AAAAIAAJ. "このゲームは当時、六万本の売り上げを記録し、アドベンチャーゲームのなかでも突出した人気を誇っていた。 (At the time, the game sold 60,000 copies and was one of the most popular adventure games."
  59. ↑ "Games". InfoWorld 5 (14): 4. April 4, 1983. https://books.google.com/books?id=8y8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA4. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  60. ↑ Steven Levy (2010). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (1st ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. p. 259. ISBN 1-4493-8839-6. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  61. ↑ The Official Book of Ultima, second edition, by Shay Addams, page 16
  62. ↑ The Official Book of Ultima, second edition, by Shay Addams, page 23
  63. ↑ "List of Top Sellers" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. Vol. 2, no. 5. September–October 1982. p. 2.
  64. ↑ https://retro365.blog/2023/10/15/apple-galaxian-that-vital-japanese-connection/
  65. ↑ 65.0 65.1 65.2 Reimer, Jeremy (2005-12-15). "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  66. ↑ West, Joel (January 1996). "Moderators of the Diffusion of Technological Innovation: Growth of the Japanese PC Industry" (PDF). Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations. University of California, Irvine. pp. 9–10. alternate url
  67. ↑ "【Sord】 SMP80/x series". IPSJ Computer Museum. Information Processing Society of Japan. Retrieved 2017-03-27.

External links[]

Video game sales figures
NPD sales figures (U.S.) · Media Create sales figures (Japan) · Chart-Track sales figures (Europe) · PC sales figures
Best selling video games
List of best-selling video games · List of highest-grossing video games

Franchises · United States (NPD) · Japan · Best selling new IPs
Consoles (6th generation · 7th generation) · Arcade · Mobile · PC
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See also: Best selling games · Best selling franchises · Highest-grossing franchises
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