Best selling PC games of all time
Year on year the gaming market has experienced significant growth across multiple platforms. One of the most noticeable of these is PC. The advent of sustainable high speed connectivity has given way to strong growth within this sector while opening the doors to new game genres such as massive multiplayer online gaming.
PC gaming has always been popular amongst enthusiasts. As a result this sector has done well in terms of sales numbers over the years.
Below we take a look at the best selling PC games of all time, according to VGCharts global sales figures.
| Game | Publisher | Year | Total |
| The Sims | Maxis | 2000 | 16.08 million |
| World of Warcraft | Blizzard | 2004 | 11.84 million |
| StarCraft | Blizzard | 1998 | 11.18 million |
| Myst | Broderbund | 1993 | 8.03 million |
| Half Life | Sierra Entertainment | 1998 | 7.85 million |
| World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade | Blizzard Entertainment | 2007 | 6.42 million |
| Rollercoaster Tycoon | Atari | 1999 | 5.34 million |
| Diablo II | Blizzard Entertainment | 2000 | 5.33 million |
| World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King | Blizzard Entertainment | 2008 | 5.24 million |
| The Sims 2 | Electronic Arts | 2004 | 5.21 million |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator | Microsoft | 2006 | 5.12 million |
| Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Microsoft | 1999 | 4.39 million |
| Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness | Blizzard Entertainment | 1995 | 4.21 million |
| Half-Life 2 | VU Games | 2004 | 4.13 million |
| Theme Hospital | Electronic Arts | 1997 | 3.99 million |
| The Sims: Unleashed | Electronic Arts | 2002 | 3.76 million |
| Doom II | GT Interactive | 1994 | 3.61 million |
| Theme Park World | Electronic Arts | 1999 | 3.55 million |
| Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos | Blizzard Entertainment | 2002 | 3.54 million |
| Who Wants to be a Millionaire? | Disney Interactive Studios | 2000 | 3.49 million |
What is particularly interesting about these figures is the proliferation of online multiplayer gaming and consumer gaming titles in top sales charts. It is clearly evident that massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) such as World of Warcraft have performed incredibly well given the short time frame in which they have been available.
Similarly consumer gaming titles such as The Sims have also performed strongly; this could be attributed to its general accessibility within the gaming market. A recent NPD Market Research Report showed that the 2-12 age group was the largest amongst all gamers; in addition the same report showed that 44% of all gamers were female. This market sector is important in terms of sales and certain franchises, such as The Sims and several Wii titles, within the console market have done well to cater for it.
Several gaming classics also made the list. Titles such as Half Life 2, StarCraft, Diablo II, Warcraft and Doom II are widely regarded as pivotal to the development of modern gaming over the years. As a result these titles have arguably earned the right to a top twenty position.
The regular appearance of Blizzard on the list is an indication of why the company, which is now known as Activision Blizzard, is regarded as one of the largest and most profitable gaming publishers in the world.
Best selling PC games – comments and views
Loading ...