Here's How Today's Best-Selling Games Compare To Those From 20 Years Ago

Today’s most popular and best-selling games often include expensive first-party exclusives, big multiplayer hits, and aging titles like GTA V that stick around years after launch. But that wasn’t the case 20 years ago, as seen in newly published sales data.

On Wednesday, Mat Piscatella, executive director and video game industry advisor at Circana, posted an image on Twitter showing the best-selling video games in July 2014 and July 2004. The data from 10 years ago is interesting, especially because a lot of games like Mario Kart 8, Minecraft, and GTA V which were big back then are still seen on best-seller lists in 2024.

July 2014 Top 20 Premium Software Titles

The Last of Us

FIFA 14

Watch Dogs

Mario Kart 8

Minecraft

Grand Theft Auto V

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Sniper Elite III

UFC

NBA 2K14

Battlefield 4

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Titanfall

The LEGO Movie Videogame

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Pokemon X/Y

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Injustice: Gods Among Us

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil

MLB 14: The Show

But what we’re really here to look at is the July 2004 data, as it provides a 20-year time capsule of the video game industry and how different it was two decades ago. Here’s that list:

July 2004 Top 20 Premium Software Titles

NCAA Football 2005

Spider-Man 2

NFL 2K5

Driver 3

Tales of Symphonia

Shrek 2

MVP Baseball 2004

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow

Pokemon: Ruby/Sapphire

Halo: Combat Evolved

Need for Speed: Underground

Mega Man: Anniversary Collection

Red Dead Revolver

Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction

Fight Night 2004

Mega Man: Battle Network 4

The Sims

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004

Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

The first thing that stands out is the game at the top. It’s not a Call of Duty, a Grand Theft Auto, or even a big RPG or sci-fi action game. Nope. It’s EA Sports’ NCAA Football 2005. It’s been a long time since that has happened, but the recent college football game from EA—the first in over a decade—is exploding and might end up at the top of July 2024’s best-selling games list.

Meanwhile, Shrek 2—a licensed action-adventure game based on the animated movie—is in the top ten, beating out titles like Red Dead Revolver, Need for Speed: Underground, and Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. I can’t remember the last time a movie tie-in game cracked the top charts. And hey, look at that! Mega-Man, Driver, and Yu-Gi-Oh! are in the top 20, t00. It was truly a different era back then, huh?

And comparing this old list to May 2024’s best-selling games, it’s clear that while a lot has changed, some things stay the same. Baseball games sell well and people still like Spider-Man sequels.