Switch Lights

The lights are on

NPD Lists Biggest Money Earners In Game History, Guitar Hero III Tops The List

Sure, Call of Duty has long replaced Guitar Hero as the apple of Bobby Kotick's eye, the now departed music franchise still has something to brag about. NPD just released a list of the top ten games of all time in terms of dollar (not unit) sales, and Black Ops has sold the most units, Guitar Hero III has still earned more money than any game ever.

The list is compiled by total dollar sales, so it's largely dominated by games that came with expensive pack-in peripherals, like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Nintendo's Wii Fit.

1. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock -- Activision -- $830.9 million
2. Call of Duty: Black Ops -- Activision -- $787.4 million
3. Wii Fit -- Nintendo -- $736.6 million
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- Activision -- $713.6 million
5. Rock Band--MTV Games -- $670.7 million
6. Wii Play -- Nintendo
7. Guitar Hero World Tour -- Activision
8. Wii Fit Plus -- Nintendo
9. Mario Kart Wii -- Nintendo
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- Activision

Source: CNBC via Gamespot

Email the author , or follow on , and .

Comments
  • I seriously wonder what the unit list is. That's still pretty impressive.
  • Not surprising considering the bundles most of these games had available. Remember the NVG bundle for MW2? Or the RC Car edition of BO? Don't even get me started on the music games. This is a heavily skewed stat considering the true number of units sold isn't revealed, nor does it weigh these figures against production costs.
  • I can think of about 10 or so games that I wish was on this list instead, but congratulations to the developers and publishers.
  • Sad to see there isn't a an EA game on there ... They are my favorite 3rd Party publisher :) (Besides microsoft/sony)
  • HaHa suck it CoD.
  • That's something. Kinda amazes me to see the last guitar-only game leading the way. Poor GH... you were good once. That list makes me ill though. Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Play, and a bunch of Dooties and music games. And Mario Kart.
  • *sigh* sadly theres too many CoD's as usual i srsly wanna burn every unit the franchise has sold up until now
  • black ops is hardly far from finished though, so lets see this chart in another 5-6 months
  • This list makes me depressed... Mario, Link, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted... They should truly top this list.
  • i hav guitar hero 3 cod 6 wii fit plus n mario kart wii

  • Guitar Hero ended up being, if anything, Activision's Kamikaze plane on the music genre, taking the series and all of it's competitors with it. Either that, or it was an "accidental crash" from a poorly maintained plane that still sunk the music genre.
  • Interesting..

  • lol its pretty much activision and nintendo

  • thats a shame

  • I must admit there is a copy of guitar hero at my house lol

  • I'm utterly speechless, no...disgusted! Yes, appalled!

    Friends, never begin to study the intricacies of what's referred to as "the business side of games". Such an endeavor is a soul-crushing depressant that will make your blood in boil till it being to hiss like a lava flow.

    How can you willfully ignorant fools be so non-chalant!? Why do you not writhe in agony!?

    This...THIS list...

    No Ocarina Of Time, no Metroid Prime, no Okami, no Little Big Planet....., no Limbo, No Mass Effect, No Alan Wake, No Beyond Good and Evil, No Super Meat Boy, no Joe Danger, none of Tim Schafer's ingenious efforts, no Bioshock...

    No GAMES that show what ***---GAMES---*** are truly capable of!

    We have Mario Party clones, empty shooters, and minigames. Trash!

    Our artists toil in obscurity...in futility...while minigames profit ceremoniously! Disgraceful!

    Aldous was right...the pursuit of high art died out many a decennia ago.

    Just a shameless cesspit of plutocratic exploitation.

    I must leave this revolting sight. This insult to the industry so near and dear to my heart SHANT be forgotten. I won't drop my sword to this grave injustice.


  • Activision 5, Nintendo 4, MTV Games 1. So when does "Wii Hero Called to Doody" drop? It's only a matter of time before Bobby and Reggie put their wallets together and come up with something even worse than "We Dare" (because it will be just as lame, but actually top the NPD list).

    >_<

  • BEST LIST OF OVERPRICED GARBAGE EVER!

    Step 1: Sell soul.
    Step 2: Make terrible, mediocre game.
    Step 3: Include expensive, cheap plastic toy.
    Step 4: Brag about how much money you made.
    Step 5: Profit.
  • It still pains me to see Black Ops on this list.
  • There are many other games more deserving than some of these, but hey I'm just glad COD isn't on top.

1 2 Next