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The Best-Selling PC Games by Year
February 10, 2023
PC games have been popular for as long as there have been personal computers. From older classics like Myst to newer hits like Minecraft, PC game sales are on the rise. Video game distribution services like Steam make it easier than ever for people to download games to their computers in a matter of minutes.
The HP research team crunched the numbers to create a visualization of the best-selling PC games of every year since 1993. Take a look at the list to see how many games you’ve played!
The Most Popular PC Games Through the Years
According to available sales data, these are [top PC games] by year:
- 2020: Fall Guys (10,000,000 copies)
- 2019: Satisfactory (1,300,000 copies)
- 2018: Rust (9,000,000 copies)
- 2017: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds(42,000,000 copies)
- 2016: Dark Souls III (3,300,000 copies)
- 2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (12,000,000 copies)
- 2014: Dark Souls II (2,700,000 copies)
- 2013: ARMA 3 (5,500,000 copies)
- 2012: Diablo III (20,000,000 copies)
- 2011: Minecraft (33,000,000 copies)
- 2010: Civilization V (8,000,000 copies)
- 2009: The Sims 3 (7,000,000 copies)
- 2008: Spore (2,000,000 copies)
- 2007: Crysis (3,000,000 copies)
- 2006: Garry's Mod (20,000,000 copies)
- 2005: Guild Wars (6,000,000 copies)
- 2004: World of Warcraft (14,000,000 copies)
- 2003: SimCity 4 (2,000,000 copies)
- 2002: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos(3,000,000 copies)
- 2001: Civilization III (2,000,000 copies)
- 2000: The Sims (11,000,000 copies)
- 1999: RollerCoaster Tycoon (4,000,000 copies)
- 1998: StarCraft (11,000,000 copies)
- 1997: Riven (4,000,000 copies)
- 1996: Command & Conquer: Red Alert(3,000,000 copies)
- 1995: Command & Conquer (3,000,000 copies)
- 1994: Theme Park (3,000,000 copies)
- 1993: Myst (6,000,000 copies)
Myst, which was released by Broderbund in 1993, is considered one of the best PC games of all time. The puzzle game has been lauded for years for its interesting story and unique play style. It was one of the best-selling games of all time on PC for many years, and it’s been updated and re-released multiple times.
One of the best PC games of 2020 was Fall Guys, which sold more than 10,000,000 copies. This battle royale-style game has players guide colorful characters through a series of challenges and obstacles. Up to 60 players can play against each other, and the game has had many seasonal updates.
Video game developer Maxis has several PC games on the best-seller list, including 2000’s best-selling PC game, The Sims, a popular life simulation game. SimCity 4, a city-building simulation game, was the best-selling PC game of 2003. Spore is a life simulation game that was the best-selling game of 2008, and The Sims 3 was the best-selling game the following year. Maxis’s titles are some of the best-selling games of all time.
Some of the games on the list require high-end gaming PCs to properly run and load graphics, but many can be run on any personal computer. Some recent games, like Minecraft, have lower-resolution graphics and simpler gameplay, so they’re very easy to run on an average personal computer.
Which game on the list is your favorite?
