100.
Hard Trucks 2 (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: ValuSoft
Developer: Softlab
Released: Dec ‘00
Estimated Sales: 210,000
Franchise Sales: 790,000
Revenues: $2.1 Million
Game ranking: 60.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Hard Trucks, Hard Trucks: 18 Wheels of Steel
The presence of Hard Truck 2 on this list at all really speaks to the eclectic nature of the PC market. This is a hardcore trucking simulator, after all – the player just hops behind the wheel of a big rig and hauls cargo from town to town on a contiguous roadway. The game’s website implies that it could be played in this banal fashion for a straight month, something actual truckers don’t even enjoy. So who’s enjoying this?
99.
Ultimate Hunt Challenge
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Sports
Released: Mar ‘00
Estimated Sales: 210,000
Franchise Sales: 210,000
Revenues: $3.4 Million
Game ranking: 68.0%
Other Franchise Hits: None
This strange compendium of classic hunting games actually contains only one title with previously released content – a special extended edition of 1999’s Deer Hunt Challenge. The set tossed on Turkey Hunt Challenge and Pheasant Hunt Challenge – hardly classics for a litany of reasons, but most technically because this was the first time they were offered to the public. All three games were basically the same game, but to some people it probably looked like a deal.
98.
Slots 2: Betty Boop
Publisher: Masque
Developer: Masque
Released: Oct ‘01
Estimated Sales: 210,000
Franchise Sales: 1.4 Million
Revenues: $3.8 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Slots, Slots from Bally Gaming
Seeing a slots-themed simulator on a list of top selling games isn’t really surprising, but this specific slot game’s claim to fame is realistic renditions of the same Betty Boop-themed machines you can find in Vegas. I think it’s fair to say that the idea of using 76-year-old children’s cartoon IP as the major selling point of your video game defies conventional logic (to say the least), but apparently it works in gambling and it worked here.
97.
Jurassic Park III: Danger Zone!
Publisher: Vivendi Games
Developer: Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
Released: Jun ’01
Estimated Sales: 210,000
Franchise Sales: 410,000
Revenues: $4.6 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Jurassic Park III: Dino Defender
Kids love dinosaurs, and no dinosaur franchise is bigger than Jurassic Park. This was true even in 2001 as the third movie in the series saw huge profits despite critical apathy, likely an indicator of this entrenched child market. So here’s a children’s game based on the franchise, and one intended for the very young at that – Danger Zone is a Mario Party-like affair that also teaches kids about the ancient beasts. Thanks to the movie tie-in, it hit its mark.
96.
Roller Coaster Factory (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: ValuSoft
Developer: ValuSoft
Released: Jul ’00
Estimated Sales: 215,000
Franchise Sales: 430,000
Revenues: $2.1 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Roller Coaster Factory 2
Another unusual reality of the PC market that this list will reflect many times is the popularity of games that let you build roller coasters. Of these games, Roller Coaster Factory is the least well-documented, as it was positioned as an impulse buy budget game – those things hardly engender much enthusiasm. What is there however states that there’s no reason to believe this is anything but a weak genre example, and that the emphasis was on the pocket change-level asking price.
95.
Stronghold
Publisher: Gathering
Developer: Firefly Studios
Released: Oct ’01
Estimated Sales: 220,000
Franchise Sales: 590,000
Revenues: $7.8 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Stronghold 2, Stronghold Crusader
Real-time strategy has found the best efforts in its genre isolated on PC since Dune 2 set the basic mechanics in two-by-two blocks of concrete, and while there have been a lot of slight variations on the resource collection and army deployment theme, a lot of them have also been quite successful. Stronghold is but a minor example of this success – it focused on castle fortification and maelstrom fortress sieges and in so doing found a large niche audience.
94.
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: LucasArts
Released: Nov ’01
Estimated Sales: 225,000
Franchise Sales: 480,000
Revenues: $9.8 Million
Game ranking: 77.1%
Other Franchise Hits: Galactic Battlegrounds Saga, Galactic Battlegrounds Clone Campaigns
Talk about brazen. Galactic Battlegrounds provided the real-time strategy game that fans had been asking about for years, yes, but built it in the Age of Empires II engine. The result wasn’t a bad game (Age of Kings was a great game, remember), but a derivative one – and since this was a science fiction game derived from a medieval game, it also felt kind of weird and lazy. Fortunately for the audience that was going to buy this regardless, it was also fun – a testament to the strength of the core technology and the twists LucasArts chose to make.
93.
James Bond 007: Nightfire
Publisher: EA
Developer: Gearbox Software
Released: Nov ’02
Estimated Sales: 230,000
Franchise Sales: 250,000
Revenues: $5.3 Million
Game ranking: 65.0%
Other Franchise Hits: None
For some unknown reason, PC gamers rarely get James Bond games. They never got them when Rare had the property, and when EA got its hands on it only ever gave Windows this single solitary port of Nightfire. So 007 fans were understandably starving, and this must be why they consumed this version of the game even though it was crippled by a staggering blow to its multiplayer.
92.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: Headgate
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 230,000
Franchise Sales: 1.5 Million
Revenues: $5.5 Million
Game ranking: 63.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 1999-2006
There are a lot of PCs out there that are built purely for business. Golf is, rather stereotypically, a businessman’s game. This allows us to disregard the fact that critics didn’t seem to like this particular Tiger Woods entry, and besides, it’s probably more important to look at the franchise sales in this case. PC golf games are kind of like those fake office-sized putting greens you buy when Dad makes executive – used sporadically, mostly sitting under a nice plush desk.
91.
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Publisher: Universal Interactive
Developer: Surreal Software
Released: Oct ’02
Estimated Sales: 230,000
Franchise Sales: 240,000
Revenues: $7.8 Million
Game ranking: 57.0%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Back when Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies were performing the miracle of making high fantasy a hot mainstream commodity, the franchise’s game licensing was confusing the core audience. EA’s Lord of the Rings game were based on the completely autonomous (legally speaking) films. Universal had the rights to make games based on the books however, and took advantage of this with a game that most seemed to feel was pretty and accurate but completely banal. But then, it did have the One Ring on the box.
90.
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: Bohemia Interactive
Released: Jun ’01
Estimated Sales: 230,000
Franchise Sales: 400,000
Revenues: $8.8 Million
Game ranking: 86.3%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Tactical first-person shooters are another genre that are most at home on PC, as the WASD-mouse combo and keyboard full of buttons are best suited to the complexities of this personal take on war. So there are a large number of games of this type on the platform, but at the time of its release Operation Flashpoint was considered one of the best for its incredible realism and powerful depictions of the chaos of battle.
89.
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA LA
Released: Dec ’04
Estimated Sales: 230,000
Franchise Sales: 470,000
Revenues: $9.4 Million
Game ranking: 82.4%
Other Franchise Hits: Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II
The hobbit frenzy the movies inspired had died down quite a lot after Return of the King left theatres, and as that was a year before this game came out its rather low sales despite its premise is rather understandable. There certainly wasn’t anything wrong with the game – it was built by the RTS wizards at EA LA, made obvious its high production values and used plenty of accurate movie source material. It’s why the game could birth a franchise despite its late arrival after the film.
88.
Jeopardy! (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro Interactive
Developer: Hasbro Interactive
Released: Sep ’00
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 640,000
Revenues: $2.3 Million
Game ranking: 74.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Jeopardy! 2, Jeopardy! 3
It’s easy to look at the success of a game like Jeopardy! and roll your eyes, but you might as well prepare yourself – in terms of how well game show-based PC games usually sell, the numbers this one did are not exemplary. It’s sometimes difficult when you’re a hardcore gamer or hardcore game maker to remember that many people that have PCs aren’t gamers, but do sometimes want to answer in the form of a question.
87.
Return of Arcade 2.0 Anniversary Edition
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 310,000
Revenues: $4.8 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: None
By today’s standards, Return of Arcade 2.0 is a horrendous deal – five antique arcade games is rarely worth it any retail price, even if one of them is Pac-Man. But then arcade compilations have come a long way since 2000, and again this set was not really aimed at gamers but rather PC owners with a passing interest in reliving their halcyon days of youth.
86.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA Games
Released: Nov ’03
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 260,000
Revenues: $5.5 Million
Game ranking: 76.6%
Other Franchise Hits: None
The theatrical release of Return of the King also represented the apex of the series as a cultural phenomenon, and EA’s movie tie in was naturally there to clean up. So it didn’t really matter that it wasn’t all that different from the previous year’s Two Towers game – besides, PC owners didn’t even get that one. The story is that Peter Jackson was disappointed with how these games were handled, which is why he went to Ubisoft and Ancel for Kong. It doesn’t change the fact that these were decent action games a lot of folks enjoyed.
85.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Platinum
Publisher: Red Storm Entertainment
Developer: Red Storm Entertainment
Released: Feb ’01
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 1.5 Million
Revenues: $7.7 Million
Game ranking: 86.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Rainbow Six, Rainbow Six 3, most expansion packs
Okay, so Rogue Spear technically came out in 1999, and only makes the list because a new compendium SKU was released years later. But that’s the fluidity of the PC market, and shows how large the tactical first-person shooter market is and how devoted they are to the Rainbow Six brand that indoctrinated most of them.
84.
Links 2001
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Released: Oct ’00
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 720,000
Revenues: $8.2 Million
Game ranking: 82.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Links Championship Edition
The Links series is a granddaddy golfing franchise, and while it’s been a few years since there’s been a new game in the series it’s still well engrained as synonymous with PC golfing. 2001 in particular was considered by critics as a return to form for the classic simulation, perhaps leading to its above-average sales. Primarily however this is a perennial favorite, and it’s likely that eventually we’ll see another one.
83.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Red Storm Entertainment
Released: Nov ’01
Estimated Sales: 240,000
Franchise Sales: 620,000
Revenues: $10.1 Million
Game ranking: 81.9%
Other Franchise Hits: Ghost Recon: Island Thunder
After the success of Rainbow Six, all you had to do was put Tom Clancy’s name on the box of a tactical first-person shooter to guarantee sales. Ghost Recon tried to appeal to a broader audience by simplifying the tactical interface while keeping the depth intact, and most critics agreed that for the most part it worked. It became a much bigger deal on consoles however, where that kind of change is more necessary.
82.
Ultimate Mahjong (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: ValuSoft
Developer: ValuSoft
Released: Mar ’01
Estimated Sales: 250,000
Franchise Sales: 610,000
Revenues: $2.5 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Ultimate Mahjong 5, Ultimate Mahjong 10
Ultimate Mahjong is not actually a Mahjong game. Mahjong is a fairly intricate gambling game of both luck and wits, similar in some ways to Poker. Ultimate Mahjong is actually Shanghai, a far simpler game where you match and remove tile pairs from a pyramid-shaped layout. Simpler gameplay probably led to this being on the list at all, but the title is inexplicably misleading.
81.
Deer Hunter 4
Publisher: WizardWorks
Developer: SunStorm Interactive
Released: Sep ’00
Estimated Sales: 250,000
Franchise Sales: 1.4 Million
Revenues: $4.5 Million
Game ranking: 71.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Deer Hunter, Deer Hunter 3, Deer Hunter 5, Deer Hunter 2003
The success of the original Deer Hunter took everyone by surprise, but by the time this fourth entry came around it was common knowledge that the series did have a blue-collar audience that couldn’t get enough of the series. Deer Hunter 4 took the standard series route of polishing the formula while keeping the system requirements nonexistent and the price way down – thus it kept the sales of the series moving at a steady pace as well.
80.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Released: Mar ’03
Estimated Sales: 250,000
Franchise Sales: 520,000
Revenues: $6.6 Million
Game ranking: 63.6%
Other Franchise Hits: CSI 2: Dark Motives
It’s nice to see a pure adventure game on the list at all, but it’s a pretty big shame that it had to be CSI. Surely it sold based on the popularity of the Bruckheimer-produced over-the-top detective show, but lacking both puzzles and decision making at all it’s a poor example of a genre that could have really used a positive boost. So CSI wasn’t really good for the industry, but it did do plenty well for itself.
79.
Command & Conquer: Renegade
Publisher: EA
Developer: Westwood
Released: Feb ’02
Estimated Sales: 250,000
Franchise Sales: 250,000
Revenues: $7.8 Million
Game ranking: 75.4%
Other Franchise Hits: None
You have to applaud efforts like this one. The Command & Conquer franchise is inexorably intertwined with the real-time strategy genre, so trying to expand past the brand’s considerable comfort zone into first-person shooting in commendable. That Westwood managed to produce decent results and sales is also great news – it would be nice if risks like this were taken more often.
78.
Scrabble (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Random Games
Released: Jul ’00
Estimated Sales: 260,000
Franchise Sales: 910,000
Revenues: $2.5 Million
Game ranking: 81.8%
Other Franchise Hits: Scrabble 2, Scrabble 3
As far as board games on computer go, Scrabble is a fairly good fit – which is why casual games have been cribbing on the simple dictionary game for years now. But Scrabble has the benefit of its ubiquitous name, and so probably outsold many of its pretenders – though being cheaper than a new copy of the tabletop game probably helped out matters quite a bit.
77.
Survivor: The Interactive Game
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Magic Lantern
Released: Nov ’01
Estimated Sales: 260,000
Franchise Sales: 290,000
Revenues: $4.0 Million
Game ranking: 25.9%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Survivor the TV show was not interesting because of its format – putting a bunch of incapable yuppies in some vaguely exotic locale without food is entertaining, but the real intrigue came from relating character’s actions to game theory to deduce who was playing and who was bumbling along. Survivor the game is just the show in format, and the real intrigue – which could have made for an interesting AI experiment – was completely broken. But it fooled enough show fans.
76.
NASCAR Racing 4
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: Papyrus Games
Released: Feb ’01
Estimated Sales: 260,000
Franchise Sales: 900,000
Revenues: $10.4 Million
Game ranking: 88.8%
Other Franchise Hits: NASCAR Racing 3, NASCAR Racing 2002 Season, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
NASCAR is a business so big it’s difficult to fathom. The sport has a huge number of fans, so much so that sales of this game are a drop in the bucket by comparison. But it’s not just NASCAR fans that bought this game – developer Papyrus is one of the genre legends, itself having a built-in fan base that buys everything it makes. As a result, NASCAR Racing probably gets a better treatment than it needs to sell, and everyone leaves happy.
75.
Jetfighter IV: Fortress America (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: TalonSoft
Developer: Mission Studios
Released: Jan ’02
Estimated Sales: 270,000
Franchise Sales: 450,000
Revenues: $2.6 Million
Game ranking: 61.6%
Other Franchise Hits: None
The Jetfighter series has always tried to be a flight simulator for people who daunted by flight simulators, integrating just enough of an Afterburner-like arcade feel to grab a more casual audience. Fortress America added a rather strong dash of jingoism, and the jewel case version added an infinitesimal price. To a large swath of the population those two things are incentive enough.
74.
Icewind Dale
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: Black Isle Studios
Released: Jun ’00
Estimated Sales: 270,000
Franchise Sales: 580,000
Revenues: $9.5 Million
Game ranking: 85.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Icewind Dale 2
Icewind Dale is a great example of why the late Black Isle Studios is so often lamented. It would have been easy to make nothing more than a stopgap title to tide fans over between Baldur’s Gate titles, but while Icewind Dale shared a lot of technology and assets with that series it stood on its own and became a successful franchise in its own right.
73.
Drop! (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: eGames
Developer: eGames
Released: Jul ’03
Estimated Sales: 280,000
Franchise Sales: 320,000
Revenues: $2.7 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: None
Drop! is a pretty simple casual puzzle game that’s probably only showing us the tip of the iceberg via its retail channel sales. It’s this tip, however, that shows us the kind of juggernaut casual gaming has become – it’s probably doing better business via click-through purchases online, yet it still managed to make it onto a retail list.
72.
Thomas & Friends: Railway Adventure Playset
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Minds Eye Productions
Released: Aug ’01
Estimated Sales: 280,000
Franchise Sales: 980,000
Revenues: $7.5 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Thomas the Tank Engine: Great Festival, Thomas & Friends: Trouble on the Track, Thomas & Friends: Building the New Line
Is this a game or an edutainment toy with a computer element? The Railway Adventure Playset came with a peripheral controller that let very young children control Thomas with big bright buttons and levers – it was probably a delight for the young set, and probably sold the entirety of its numbers to toy-filled playpens.
71.
Delta Force: Land Warrior
Publisher: NovaLogic
Developer: NovaLogic
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 280,000
Franchise Sales: 1.7 Million
Revenues: $7.6 Million
Game ranking: 74.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Delta Force, Delta Force 2, Delta Force 4, Delta Force Black Hawk Down and expansions
Once upon a time the Delta Force series was one of gaming’s great pioneers, experimenting with tactical first-person shooting gameplay, generating graphics using voxels instead of polygons – all cutting edge stuff when the first one came out. By Land Warrior, the third game, the series had settled into middle age, settling for merely being solid and popular. So it didn’t do as well as its more adventurous pre-21st century brethren, but well enough nevertheless.
70.
Tribes 2
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: Dynamix
Released: Mar ’01
Estimated Sales: 280,000
Franchise Sales: 480,000
Revenues: $9.2 Million
Game ranking: 85.1%
Other Franchise Hits: None
The Tribes series has periodically enjoyed a cult following. It has a mix of tactical multiplayer and expansive 3D environments (that use every dimension to its fullest) in a science fiction atmosphere that few pretenders have attempted to emulate. Its unique charms have been evangelized by gaming mainstays like Penny Arcade, giving the series a hardcore mystique – that’s the kind of club people enjoy belonging to.
69.
SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Activision Value
Released: Sep ’03
Estimated Sales: 290,000
Franchise Sales: 450,000
Revenues: $5.4 Million
Game ranking: 59.3%
Other Franchise Hits: SeaWorld Adventure Parks Tycoon 2
With theme park building simulators the inexplicable big business that they are, it seems like a no-brainer to slap the license of an actual park on a simple version of the established formula and rake it in. The good thing about using SeaWorld for such a venture is that it’s SeaWorld – everyone loves Shamu. The bad thing is that it’s SeaWorld – do you remember anything about it besides Shamu?
68.
SimCoaster
Publisher: EA
Developer: Bullfrog
Released: Jan ’01
Estimated Sales: 290,000
Franchise Sales: 380,000
Revenues: $5.8 Million
Game ranking: 74.1%
Other Franchise Hits: None
One of the final titles out of Peter Molyneux’s once great, now defunct Bullfrog Productions, SimCoaster benefited from being the third game in the classic Theme Park series, a “Sim” prefix in its name, and a “Coaster” suffix in its name. That’s the kind of title that really pushes a game into an audience lulled into complacency by the excellence of Will Wright and Chris Sawyer. The game itself, well, it wasn’t bad.
67.
Scooby Doo: Phantom of the Knight
Publisher: The Learning Company
Developer: Terra Glyph Interactive
Released: Oct ’00
Estimated Sales: 290,000
Franchise Sales: 1.4 Million
Revenues: $5.9 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Jinx at the Sphinx, Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom, Showdown in Ghost Town, the Glowing Bug Man
This one is perhaps a bit unexpected. It would certainly seem to a logical mind that Scooby Doo isn’t a particular strong brand, nor are adventure games even remotely plausible as big business, yet apparently the combination of the two sells as edutainment to a very young audience. And then it sells again, and again, and again. Going purely by the numbers, this is one of the healthiest franchises on this list. Somehow.
66.
Monopoly Tycoon
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Deep Red
Released: Sep ’01
Estimated Sales: 290,000
Franchise Sales: 360,000
Revenues: $6.8 Million
Game ranking: 82.8%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Put the word “Tycoon” in your PC game and you’re guaranteed to at least get a few glances as a kind of pseudo-brand recognition sets in. With Monopoly however, the brand is ingrained, and the combination of the two found traction with both board game and business sim aficionados. The fact that by all regards the hybrid was both technically and mechanically sound helped too.
65.
Star Wars: Battlefront
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Pandemic
Released: Sep ‘04
Estimated Sales: 290,000
Franchise Sales: 460,000
Revenues: $11.4 Million
Game ranking: 75.8%
Other Franchise Hits: Star Wars: Battlefront II
Here’s an idea – take the successful team-based multiplayer made popular by EA’s Battlefield series, but implement it in the Star Wars universe. For the multitude of kids and grown children who spent rainy days playing Empire Vs Rebels with their friend’s action figures, this was fantasy made real. In the capable hands of Pandemic, it was also made great fun, and today enjoys status as a powerful multi-platform franchise.
64.
Nancy Drew: Message in a Haunted Mansion
Publisher: DreamCatcher
Developer: Her Interactive
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 300,000
Franchise Sales: 2.1 Million
Revenues: $5.5 Million
Game ranking: 87.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Treasure in the Royal Tower, Final Scene, Secret of the Scarlet Hand, Secret of the Shadow Ranch, Stay Tuned for Danger, Curse of Blackmoor Manor, Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, Secrets Can Kill
The work of Her Interactive is to be appreciated, as is the success it has reaped as a result of the effort. The company has been putting out Nancy Drew-licensed adventure games for years now, and while its work is targeted directly at girls and families it never disrespects or underestimates its audience. It’s refreshing to see such a powerful franchise borne from such an approach.
63.
Dark Age of Camelot
Publisher: Mythic Entertainment
Developer: Mythic Entertainment
Released: Oct ’01
Estimated Sales: 300,000
Franchise Sales: 780,000
Revenues: $10.4 Million
Game ranking: 87.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Shrouded Isles Expansion, Trials of Atlantis Expansion
In 2001, Dark Age of Camelot enjoyed the success that most MMORPGs of the era enjoyed, before the market got stormed by me-too entrepreneurs. But DAoC came out the gate running – it was heralded as a distant evolutionary jump over its competition, a breath of fresh air even in those early days. So it’s still successful now, one of the few MMO old guard that continues to maintain itself nearly five years later.
62.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Released: Apr ’02
Estimated Sales: 300,000
Franchise Sales: 990,000
Revenues: $11.7 Million
Game ranking: 88.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Morrowind Tribunal Expansion, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,
Perhaps the success of Oblivion is fresher in your mind – a gorgeous technical showcase, a huge open-ended world with endless possibility, a runaway success that moved hardware at an important turn for the industry. All of this applied to Morrowind four years ago – it was a fascinating and enormous epic, and critics and the market recognized it as such.
61.
Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Hasbro
Released: Jul ’00
Estimated Sales: 310,000
Franchise Sales: 420,000
Revenues: $3.0 Million
Game ranking: 76.0%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Hasbro has a pretty good racket going with its PC board game conversions. People seemed to agree that this specific Clue game was a pretty decent reworking of the classic whodunit, so if anything it didn’t sully the idea of video games to the large contingent of dice fans who picked this one up on name value. It’s not one to get excited over, but then it’s not necessarily the exciting products that move off shelves.
60.
Finding Nemo: Nemo's Underwater World of Fun
Publisher: THQ
Developer: THQ
Released: May ’03
Estimated Sales: 310,000
Franchise Sales: 390,000
Revenues: $5.7 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: None
Like the movie on which this was based, Nemo’s Underwater World of Fun did very well for itself. But unlike both the movie and the console-based game, this one didn’t have the film’s delightful story. Instead it just packed a handful of minigames based on the character’s antics onto a disc and aimed it at the audience that was young enough to love the movie but not know why.
59.
Madden NFL 2002
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Tiburon
Released: Aug ’01
Estimated Sales: 310,000
Franchise Sales: 1.9 Million
Revenues: $9.7 Million
Game ranking: 71.1%
Other Franchise Hits: Madden NFL 99-2006
Perhaps the most interesting thing about where Madden is on this list is that it’s this low, especially compared to the overwhelming market dominance the game enjoys on console. But then a PC isn’t really the ideal place for a congregation of football fans, whereas a television has always been – so the only people buying this are the hardcore soloists or those without consoles. That makes that number look a whole bigger, doesn’t it?
58.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Neversoft
Released: Oct ‘00
Estimated Sales: 320,000
Franchise Sales: 440,000
Revenues: $8.0 Million
Game ranking: 85.7%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 for PC was your vanilla run-of-the-mill PlayStation port, yes. But it was a PlayStation port of an excellent game, and to a group of gamers that could only watch with envy as their console cousins got all of the fun with the first one, the arrival of the second on PC was a godsend.
57.
Hoyle Casino 2001
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: Sierra Entertainment
Released: Sep ‘00
Estimated Sales: 320,000
Franchise Sales: 1.3 Million
Revenues: $8.9 Million
Game ranking: 73.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Hoyle Casino 2000-2004
Hoyle has been putting out a casino game every year for a while now, so much so that its name is synonymous with computer gambling. So it doesn’t mean a lot that the 2001 version did slightly better than any of the others (though reviewers curiously unanimously described this specific one as “addictive” – perhaps they should look into some kind of clinic). Hoyle is what people buy when they want to play Poker with themselves.
56.
Tonka Dig N Rigs Playset
Publisher: Atari
Developer: ImageBuilder
Released: Jul ‘00
Estimated Sales: 320,000
Franchise Sales: 2.2 Million
Revenues: $9.1 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Tonka Construction, Tonka Construction 2, Tonka Search and Resuce, Tonka Space Station, Tonka Monster Truck
The Tonka-branded line of videogames is another one that’s surprisingly vibrant on PC, but the best-selling entry is particularly interesting. It comes with a proprietary controller that snaps onto a keyboard for input – no drivers required – and lets the playing toddler push buttons and pull levers without actually getting near the more fragile input devices a grown person would use. Being half toy and half game, it must have seemed like a supreme value to parents.
55.
Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Developer: Microsoft Games Studios, Cyblerlore Studios
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 320,000
Franchise Sales: 900,000
Revenues: $11.5 Million
Game ranking: 85.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Mechwarrior 3, Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries
FASA’s premiere tabletop mech battler was once an overwhelming force in videogaming as well. This hasn’t been the case in a while, though – the six year old Mechwarrior 4 was the last entry in the series proper, the property since moving on to console offerings like MechAssault. Still, this final Mechwarrior was pretty good and sold pretty well – judging by dates, one can only assume that this one’s sudden disappearance was a result of a Microsoft unwilling to pay the IP’s opportunity cost, choosing instead to focus on Xbox.
54.
Train Simulator
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Released: May ’01
Estimated Sales: 330,000
Franchise Sales: 380,000
Revenues: $11.6 Million
Game ranking: 80.6%
Other Franchise Hits: None
It may seem unusual that a simulator where tracks are laid and trains are run would be so popular. Then again, Train Simulator is just a virtual model train kit, and those have done so well for so many decades that they’ve become rather iconic as a middle-aged hobby. So it’s that sizable crowd that’s buying into Microsoft’s romantic vision of the days of rail.
53.
City Of Heroes
Publisher: NCSoft
Developer: Cryptic Studios
Released: Apr ’04
Estimated Sales: 330,000
Franchise Sales: 540,000
Revenues: $13.8 Million
Game ranking: 85.5%
Other Franchise Hits: City of Villains
MMORPGs went from new and experimental to incestuous and opaque to outsiders as fast any genre ever has. City of Heroes understood that, and gave a curious audience things they had never before seen in the world of massive multiplayer. The unique superhero theme was a hit and the mechanics had a simplicity that made it accessible – as a result, this became the first MMORPG experience of many fence-sitters.
52.
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
Publisher: EA
Developer: EA
Released: Mar ’00
Estimated Sales: 340,000
Franchise Sales: 2.5 Million
Revenues: $6.3 Million
Game ranking: 83.8%
Other Franchise Hits: Need for Speed 3, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, Need for Speed: High Stakes, Need for Speed Underground, Need for Speed Underground 2
The Need for Speed series is one of the best examples in the industry of a franchise that isn’t afraid to reinvent while at the same time keeping a sense of self. This specific entry took the basic mechanics of the series and used them to write a love letter to the Porsche, a manufacturer most people love but also can’t afford. This desire for fantasy fulfillment drove sales beyond name recognition.
51.
Final Fantasy XI
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Released: Oct ’03
Estimated Sales: 340,000
Franchise Sales: 510,000
Revenues: $15.5 Million
Game ranking: 83.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Chains of Promathia expansion
Final Fantasy XI terrified series fans when it came out – the idea of the story-driven RPG series going the MMORPG route felt opportunistic, and to fans waiting for a true follow-up to the fantastic Final Fantasy X this did not feel like an answer. But then, Final Fantasy fans are Final Fantasy fans, so most of them bought this anyway – many of them are still nursing the resulting addiction today.
50.
Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It?
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Steel Monkeys
Released: Aug ’01
Estimated Sales: 350,000
Franchise Sales: 520,000
Revenues: $6.1 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: Bob the Builder: Bob Builds a Park
Bob the Builder is a pretty big property in young child entertainment – Nick Jr. pushes it perpetually, so it’s a familiar name among those that can barely speak. This game was aimed directly at that audience – it was simplistic and only taught the most basic of skills. While parents bought it for their kids, they probably tired of it quickly – allowing them to move on to the next Nick Jr.-themed game.
49.
Far Cry
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Crytek
Released: Mar ’04
Estimated Sales: 350,000
Franchise Sales: 350,000
Revenues: $11.0 Million
Game ranking: 89.4%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Far Cry was a shot in the arm of the FPS genre when it came out. It beat Doom 3 to market but easily matched it in graphical acuity, its accurate portrayal of a tropical archipelago still holding up today. But it was also an incredibly deep entertaining shooter – one of most enjoyable ever, if you believe reviews – and as a result it birthed a franchise that remains strong even as its creators move on to the even more impressive-looking Crysis.
48.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Gray Matter
Released: Nov ’01
Estimated Sales: 350,000
Franchise Sales: 660,000
Revenues: $17.0 Million
Game ranking: 87.2%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Wolfenstein 3D was not the original first-person shooter but it was the first one most people played, and to many of those people it was the great game that created the genre. They had to wait a long time for a new entry in the series, but what they got was a great modern take on the theme and a strong multiplayer focus. It satisfied the masses and kept the brand healthy.
47.
American McGee's Alice
Publisher: EA
Developer: Rogue Entertainment
Released: Dec ’00
Estimated Sales: 360,000
Franchise Sales: 360,000
Revenues: $9.4 Million
Game ranking: 82.2%
Other Franchise Hits: None
American McGee is an artist at heart, so it’s appropriate that it was his artistic interpretation of a classic children’s tale that sold this game. While the idea of Alice in Wonderland as a work horror wasn’t a new one, the sheer darkness of American’s vision captivated an audience already familiar with the story.
46.
EverQuest: Shadows of Luclin Expansion Pack
Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment
Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
Released: Dec ’01
Estimated Sales: 360,000
Franchise Sales: 2.7 Million
Revenues: $9.9 Million
Game ranking: 84.7%
Other Franchise Hits: EverQuest, EverQuest II, Ruins of Kunark, Planes of Power, Scars of Velious, Lost Dungeons of Norrath
The original EverQuest came out a bit too early to see placement on its list, but the fact that one of its expansion packs made it into the top 50 is a testament to the uninterrupted popularity this series has enjoyed since its inception. And it’s not just Luclin – just about every product with the EverQuest name on the box has done similar stellar numbers. And don’t forget that monthly fee.
45.
Unreal Tournament 2003
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Digital Extremes
Released: Sep ’02
Estimated Sales: 360,000
Franchise Sales: 1.8 Million
Revenues: $13.6 Million
Game ranking: 87.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Unreal Tournament, Unreal Tournament 2004, Unreal II
Unreal Tournament is a shooter series for lovers of the bombastic- it’s a brightly colored whirlwind of multiplayer action designed to bring the player’s adrenaline to vertigo-inducing levels. So the games are awesome in the traditional sense of the word, which is why they’ve been on so many hard drives.
44.
Dungeon Siege
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Released: Mar ’02
Estimated Sales: 360,000
Franchise Sales: 750,000
Revenues: $14.5 Million
Game ranking: 84.6%
Other Franchise Hits: Legends of Aranna expansion, Dungeon Siege II
Once Blizzard proved the hypnotic effect of clicking on monsters incessantly, there were plenty of attempts to recreate that success. Dungeon Siege as a result isn’t the most original game ever made, but it did bring the polish and the marketing muscle required to make it a breakaway hit. With Diablo games few and far between, Dungeon Siege successfully fulfilled its market niche.
43.
Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Sony Online Entertainment
Released: Jun ’03
Estimated Sales: 370,000
Franchise Sales: 720,000
Revenues: $16.1 Million
Game ranking: 73.6%
Other Franchise Hits: Jump to Lightspeed expansion
Say what you will about the game’s implementation, but you have to admit that an MMORPG based in the Star Wars Universe is a compelling prospect sight unseen. Since the game succeeds on such a conceptual level, this was going to sell no matter what – and the game’s design, though controversial, certainly had some interesting philosophy behind it.
42.
Driver (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Reflections Interactive
Released: Oct ’00
Estimated Sales: 390,000
Franchise Sales: 470,000
Revenues: $3.8 Million
Game ranking: 78.6%
Other Franchise Hits: None
It’s amazing how much older this game feels than its contemporaries on this list, but then it has been a long time since 2000. In that time, you can build a very good game like Driver, watch it succeed immensely, then fumble the franchise as other games crib your best ideas and make them even better. It’s a sad tale, but hey, a lot of great games don’t even enjoy this much success.
41.
Empire Earth
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: Stainless Steel Studios
Released: Nov ’01
Estimated Sales: 390,000
Franchise Sales: 870,000
Revenues: $16.7 Million
Game ranking: 81.9%
Other Franchise Hits: the Art of Conquest expansion, Empire Earth II
Massive in ambition and epic in scope, Empire Earth rather breathlessly attempted to capture 500,000 years of human history in a single real-time strategy offering. Those weaned on excellent but smaller games like Age of Empire were surely intrigued, while others were curious just to see if the game could pull off its plan – or if such a plan could be pulled off at all. Whether Empire Earth did it or not depends on who you talk to.
40.
Rome: Total War
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Creative Assembly
Released: Sep ’04
Estimated Sales: 390,000
Franchise Sales: 1.3 Million
Revenues: $16.8 Million
Game ranking: 91.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War
The Total War series has become something of a touchstone for the entire strategy genre. Creative Assembly’s blend of fantastic technology, battles that dwarf its competition in scale, and levels of strategy and realism are simply untouchable. When Rome came out it was completely without peer, a good position from which to achieve success.
39.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Raven Software
Released: Mar ’02
Estimated Sales: 390,000
Franchise Sales: 920,000
Revenues: $17.0 Million
Game ranking: 84.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
Jedi Outcast differentiated itself from other first-person shooters with incredibly deep and believable lightsaber combat. It thus achieved a grail of the Star Wars videogame franchise – it genuinely made the player feel like a Jedi while they were playing it, so much so that some of the game’s most ardent fans created a Jedi arena subculture around it.
38.
Game of Life (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Hasbro
Released: Mar ‘01
Estimated Sales: 400,000
Franchise Sales: 400,000
Revenues: $3.9 Million
Game ranking: 75.4%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Hasbro really cleans up with these board game remakes, regardless of whether it adds any level of creativity or not. Game of Life is representative of the latter scenario – it is just the board game on a VGA screen. As far as introducing new players to the basics of video game using mechanics they already know it’s respectable, but otherwise it’s just another example of unintimidating banality equaling huge gains.
37.
Myst III: Exile
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Presto Studios
Released: May ’01
Estimated Sales: 400,000
Franchise Sales: 1.6 Million
Revenues: $14.0 Million
Game ranking: 78.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Myst, Riven: The Sequel to Myst, Myst IV: Revelation, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
It’s no secret that Myst used the burgeoning CD-ROM storage device to catapult it to success in the mid-90’s, but that type of opportunism only gets you so far. By the time of Exile, Myst as a franchise had well established itself as a consistent favorite, appealing to a core audience for its trademark puzzle style and sense of fantastical wonder.
36.
Mall Tycoon
Publisher: Take-Two Interactive
Developer: Holistic Design
Released: Feb ‘02
Estimated Sales: 420,000
Franchise Sales: 820,000
Revenues: $7.6 Million
Game ranking: 42.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Mall Tycoon 2
People love malls, and games with the word “tycoon” in the title do provide a false sense of familiarity. Mall Tycoon is a pretty good example of consumers being taken for a ride – it was universally panned, but the combination of trusted themes in the titles lured in the buyers anyway.
35.
Rise of Nations
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Big Huge Games
Released: May ’03
Estimated Sales: 420,000
Franchise Sales: 700,000
Revenues: $15.9 Million
Game ranking: 89.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Thrones and Patriots expansion
Considered one of the best real-time strategy games to come out in recent years, Rise of Nations provided a fantastic blend of classic genre style with some of the best parts of turn-based strategy. It was designed by Brian Reynolds, who worked on Civilization II and Alpha Centauri with Sid Meier, so the bent, the quality, and the success are hardly surprising.
34.
Grand Theft Auto III
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar North
Released: May ’02
Estimated Sales: 420,000
Franchise Sales: 1.1 Million
Revenues: $16.9 Million
Game ranking: 93.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
The Grand Theft Auto franchise doesn’t do nearly as well on PC as it does on console – the games usually hit Windows much later than PlayStation, so the port typically has to settle for the small percentage of players either without consoles or hopelessly late to the party. GTA is fortunate in that it’s GTA, though – even a small percentage of players to the franchise are a huge number in any other context.
33.
Max Payne
Publisher: 3D Realms
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Released: Jul ’01
Estimated Sales: 430,000
Franchise Sales: 670,000
Revenues: $16.9 Million
Game ranking: 89.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Gamers had to wait for what seemed like forever for Max Payne to come out, but when it did it was fully-formed and fantastic. The gritty film noir atmosphere was appreciated, but it was bullet time that really set the game apart – it was so popular in fact that its turnaround time from innovation was cliché was nearly immediate.
32.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: BioWare
Released: Nov ’03
Estimated Sales: 470,000
Franchise Sales: 660,000
Revenues: $14.7 Million
Game ranking: 93.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
It took a little while for Knights of the Old Republic to find its way off the Xbox to the hardcore PC RPG that wanted it most, but the numbers show nobody minded the wait. When a Star Wars game is this good – creating a whole new mythos within the universe, but also being true to the source material and action-packed and immersive to boot – most players probably considered themselves fortunate to get it at all.
31.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Publisher: Interplay
Developer: BioWare
Released: Sep ’00
Estimated Sales: 480,000
Franchise Sales: 900,000
Revenues: $19.6 Million
Game ranking: 94.1%
Other Franchise Hits: Throne of Bhaal expansion
The first Baldur’s Gate pulled videogames based on Advanced Dungeon & Dungeons out of the mire of mediocrity they spent most of the 90’s in, but it was the second one that took the established franchise all the way. It pushed the well-worn Infinity Engine to its gorgeous 2D limit, was as deep and long as anyone could want, and in general was a perfect game to the hardcore role playing audience.
30.
Atari Arcade Hits (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Digital Eclipse
Released: Mar ’00
Estimated Sales: 490,000
Franchise Sales: 750,000
Revenues: $4.8 Million
Game ranking: 86.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Atari Arcade 30th Anniversary Edition
Classic arcade compilations from the turn of the century like this one date pretty badly; this collection only had six of Atari’s oldest blockbusters in it. But games like Asteroids and Pong have it where it counts – in recognition factor – and Atari can and probably will recycle these countless more times. Those sets will probably be equally high on future sales lists.
29.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Operation Krabby Patty
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Awesome Productions
Released: Sep ’01
Estimated Sales: 490,000
Franchise Sales: 1.5 Million
Revenues: $10.9 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: SpongeBob SquarePants the Movie, Battle for Bikini Bottom, Employee of the Month
Operation Krabby Patty is not the best game ever made, and by most accounts it’s not even the best SpongeBob game ever made. But it is a SpongeBob game so it sells, and it’s one of the older SpongeBob games so it has sold more due to its longer lifespan. Five arcade-like minigames can, as it turns out, get you pretty far with the right license.
28.
Barbie Pet Rescue
Publisher: Mattel
Developer: Human Code
Released: Aug ’00
Estimated Sales: 500,000
Franchise Sales: 5.0 Million
Revenues: $12.6 Million
Game ranking: None
Other Franchise Hits: nearly two dozen doll-themed games
Videogames based on Barbie do massive business. There’ve been more entries in the series than in most wildly successful franchises, and all of them sell fantastically – and while we all like to giggle about how awful it is for a doll to have some Horse Adventures, the truth is that they fluctuate greatly in quality. Mattel’s success here is nice, but the industry really needs to have more for girls to do.
27.
Frogger (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Hasbro
Released: Oct ’00
Estimated Sales: 510,000
Franchise Sales: 1.0 Million
Revenues: $4.3 Million
Game ranking: 58.1%
Other Franchise Hits: Frogger 2
This game was actually initially released in 1997 as an attempt to remake the arcade classic for an audience with more modern tastes. It wasn’t particularly good then and it was even less so in 2000, but it was still called Frogger and this time it was incredibly cheap (and in the date range for inclusion on this list).
26.
Neverwinter Nights
Publisher: Atari
Developer: BioWare
Released: Jun ’02
Estimated Sales: 510,000
Franchise Sales: 1.3 Million
Revenues: $23.2 Million
Game ranking: 88.6%
Other Franchise Hits: Hordes of the Underdark expansion, Shadows of Undrentide expansion
BioWare are loved by role-players because it tells good stories and always gives more than is expected. Neverwinter Nights didn’t only provide a long, well-told, accessible single player RPG – it also contained a robust Dungeons & Dragons module creation system, giving the game the same endless extensibility as the pen-and-paper classic. Each of those components alone probably could have found sizable audiences – together, it was an unbeatable deal.
25.
Wheel of Fortune (Jewel Case SKU)
Publisher: Hasbro
Developer: Hasbro
Released: Sep ’00
Estimated Sales: 530,000
Franchise Sales: 960,000
Revenues: $5.2 Million
Game ranking: 67.8%
Other Franchise Hits: Wheel of Fortune 2, Wheel of Fortune 3
Wheel of Fortune is yet another game show-based video game for people who don’t play video games. It succeeds in the same way as the show – the rules are patently simple and ingrained in the American psyche, so everyone knows how to play it. But it was also priced at a budget rate, so it moved to lots of sometimes computer users.
24.
Black & White
Publisher: EA
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Released: Mar ’01
Estimated Sales: 530,000
Franchise Sales: 810,000
Revenues: $18.7 Million
Game ranking: 89.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Black & White 2
Peter Molynuex’s fascinating Black & White combined the mechanics of the god game genre he founded with some highly experimental AI interaction. The game allowed you to raise a powerful creature, and how it was brought up dictated its personality and how it would do your will (or its own) among your people. It was lavished with praise for its uniqueness, and sold well, surprisingly, for the same reason.
23.
Guild Wars
Publisher: NCSoft
Developer: ArenaNet
Released: Apr ’05
Estimated Sales: 540,000
Franchise Sales: 620,000
Revenues: $26.1 Million
Game ranking: 89.1%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Guild Wars has an extremely tangible benefit over MMORPGs that try to compete with it – cost. Pulling its network design from the always free Battle.net, it might be more comparable to Diablo II than World of Warcraft, but positioned against other genre juggernauts it looked like a bargain. Of course, it’s also great fun and has a unique and incredible art style; these are just more reasons the game has done so well.
22.
Half-Life: Counter-Strike
Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: The Counter-Strike Team
Released: Nov ’00
Estimated Sales: 550,000
Franchise Sales: 900,000
Revenues: $15.7 Million
Game ranking: 89.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Counter-Strike is often used as an example of how great success can come from the game modding community. It is the best example– the game has become so successful, the name so well known and popular, that this Sierra-published retail version nearly made it into the top 20 selling games of the past six years despite not offering much over the free version on the internet.
21.
Civilization III
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Firaxis Games
Released: Oct ’01
Estimated Sales: 550,000
Franchise Sales: 2.5 Million
Revenues: $21.7 Million
Game ranking: 88.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Play the World expansion, Conquests expansion, Civilization 2, Civilization IV, Call to Power, Call to Power 2
Why can’t there be more games like Civilization? They’re incredibly deep, teach children and adults history, politics, and organization, and they sell exceptionally well. Indeed, Civilization is a game that shines a good light on both the industry and the medium. Civilization III is a product that’s needed, and whether you’re a player or an industry member you should feel lucky to have it.
20.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Gearbox Software, Bungie Studios
Released: Sep ’03
Estimated Sales: 670,000
Franchise Sales: 670,000
Revenues: $22.2 Million
Game ranking: 86.2%
Other Franchise Hits: None
It really speaks to how big Halo is that a port of a two year old Xbox game can hit the top 20 in PC game sales. But that’s because Halo is a bona fide cultural phenomenon of the decade – everyone wants to see what the fuss is about, and when the game hit the platform everyone owns they finally got a chance to.
19.
Flight Simulator 2004: Century of Flight
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Released: Jul ’03
Estimated Sales: 670,000
Franchise Sales: 3.1 Million
Revenues: $26.8 Million
Game ranking: 87.2%
Other Franchise Hits: countless yearly iterations of Flight Simulator and Combat Flight Simulator
Microsoft’s Flight Simulator is a series that has been around so long it’s become a staple of PC. They have a reputation for being deep and accurate simulations of commercial (or military, as the case may be) flight, and armchair aviators around the country swear by its complicated take on entertainment. Others see them as great examples of what the forefront of technology can do; they are certainly very impressive showcases.
18.
Battlefield 1942
Publisher: EA
Developer: Digital Illusions
Released: Sep ’02
Estimated Sales: 680,000
Franchise Sales: 2.7 Million
Revenues: $27.1 Million
Game ranking: 88.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Road to Rome expansion, Secret Weapons of WWII expansion, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2 and expansions
Battlefield 1942 is so different from other WWII first-person shooters it’s almost its own genre. This is due to an ambitious design that was not directed at realism, but scale – Battlefield’s huge multiplayer battles became populated by players drawn to its accessible action-oriented gameplay. The whole thing snowballed, and the result was a popular new franchise.
17.
Half-Life 2
Publisher: Vivendi Games
Developer: Valve Software
Released: Nov ’04
Estimated Sales: 680,000
Franchise Sales: 1.5 Million
Revenues: $34.3 Million
Game ranking: 95.6%
Other Franchise Hits: Half-Life, Half-Life Opposing Force expansion
The highly anticipated sequel to the game many have offered as the greatest game of all time, Half-Life 2 had everything going for it – a canonized namesake, astounding graphics and technology, fantastic gameplay and positive reviews (though most said it wasn’t as good as they were expecting, nothing could have been that good). Keep in mind that it also sold – and continues to sell – through Steam, so these sales numbers are only part of the picture.
16.
Doom 3
Publisher: Activision
Developer: id Software
Released: Aug ’04
Estimated Sales: 760,000
Franchise Sales: 1.1 Million
Revenues: $32.4 Million
Game ranking: 87.2%
Other Franchise Hits: Resurrection of Evil expansion, original Doom trilogy
Doom is almost definitely the most recognizable name in PC gaming, and just the idea of a sequel was enough to get most shooter fans salivating. But when screens came out that showed id was maintaining its reputation for state-of-the-art untouchable graphics, people were completely sold, even as they were told by the press that the time for this type of brainless, scripted shooter had passed. Most (including said reviewers) still enjoyed it on a visceral level – though like the Half-Life sequel that was its strongest competition, it could not possibly live up to the unrealistic expectations placed upon it.
15.
Backyard Basketball
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Humongous Entertainment
Released: Oct ’01
Estimated Sales: 780,000
Franchise Sales: 5.3 Million
Revenues: $13.2 Million
Game ranking: 60.0%
Other Franchise Hits: many versions of Backyard Basketball, Backyard Baseball, Backyard Football, Backyard Hockey and Backyard Soccer
The Backyard franchise is another one you don’t expect to see on this kind of list because it’s largely ignored by the enthusiast press, but the series densely populates the shelves of stores like Wal-Mart. It then sells to non-gamer parents who are looking to keep their young ones occupied with harmless sports but don’t feel like rubbing detergent into grass stains.
14.
Who Wants To Be a Millionaire 2nd Edition
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: Jellyvision
Released: Jan ‘00
Estimated Sales: 790,000
Franchise Sales: 2.7 Million
Revenues: $13.8 Million
Game ranking: 58.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Third Edition, Sports Edition, Kids Edition,
The most successful game show-based videogame on the list, the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire series benefits from the voice acting of one Regis Philbin. It’s also backed by the supreme quiz game experience of Jellyvision, a developer who has built a whole philosophy of audio design around keeping question answering interesting and fun. Between the competence of the execution and the strength of the name, these will probably sell until the show gets cancelled.
13.
Call of Duty
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Infinity Ward
Released: Oct ’03
Estimated Sales: 790,000
Franchise Sales: 1.6 Million
Revenues: $29.6 Million
Game ranking: 91.5%
Other Franchise Hits: United Offensive expansion pack, Call of Duty 2
It’s difficult to remember now, but there was a time when Medal of Honor was so head and shoulders above all other contenders that for all intents and purposes it comprised the entire WWII first-person shooter genre. Call of Duty firmly buried that concept, focusing on the drama and emotional intensity of the war but using a very arcade-like action-oriented style. Fantastic production values cemented the offering, which is now a system-moving franchise.
12.
Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Ensemble Studios
Released: Aug ’00
Estimated Sales: 800,000
Franchise Sales: 4.1 Million
Revenues: $20.1 Million
Game ranking: 88.5%
Other Franchise Hits: Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, Age of Empires, Age of Empires III
The Conquerers expansion pack is sitting in for Age of Empires II, which narrowly missed the cutoff date for inclusion. Of course, it’s pinch-hitting just outside of the top ten, which is phenomenal for a product that requires a previous product to run. But then, Ensemble’s opus franchise has always had a huge contingent of vocal fans – history buffs and strategy lovers love these well-designed journeys to the past.
11.
Command & Conquer Red Alert 2
Publisher: EA
Developer: Westwood Studios
Released: Oct ’00
Estimated Sales: 810,000
Franchise Sales: 4.3 Million
Revenues: $26.9 Million
Game ranking: 86.3%
Other Franchise Hits: Yuri’s Revenge expansion, Red Alert and expansion, Command & Conquer 2 and expansions, Command & Conquer Generals and expansions
From its inception over ten years ago the Command & Conquer series has been nothing short genre-defining; its contributions to mechanics, interface and style are difficult to overestimate, and players have greatly appreciated the many refinements the series has provided. The Red Alert side story goes a slightly different way, playing up a more alternate Cold War scenario, but the polish and sales remain regardless of this slight variation
10.
Age of Mythology
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Ensemble Studios
Released: Oct ‘02
Estimated Sales: 870,000
Franchise Sales: 1.3 Million
Revenues: $31.9 Million
Game ranking: 89.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Age of Mythology Titans expansion
Ensemble’s first attempt at straying from Age of Empires was a completely new beast – Age of Mythology had a new 3D engine and a new distancing from historical context. It all paid off – the game looked great, captured the imagination with its battles between ancient polytheistic religions, and played just as well as any of the respected studio’s previous efforts.
9.
Medal of Honor Allied Assault
Publisher: EA
Developer: 2015
Released: Jan ‘02
Estimated Sales: 900,000
Franchise Sales: 1.9 Million
Revenues: $34.2 Million
Game ranking: 90.7%
Other Franchise Hits: Spearhead expansion, Breakthrough expansion, Medal of Honor Pacific Assault
There have been many attempts to unseat it, but in terms of sales and brand recognition it’s still hard to top Medal of Honor, the patriarch of the entire WWII first-person shooter subgenre. Allied Assault is considered by some as the apex of the series, capturing the pure adrenaline of combat with impeccable scripted sequencing and phenomenal sound direction.
8.
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Chris Sawyer
Released: Oct ‘02
Estimated Sales: 940,000
Franchise Sales: 4.4 Million
Revenues: $21.6 Million
Game ranking: 75.1%
Other Franchise Hits: RollerCoaster Tycoon, RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, myriad expansions
There are fewer and fewer one-man acts in the games industry these days, but Chris Sawyer has always been one of the most successful even in that elite club. RollerCoaster Tycoon and its sequel were almost entirely his own work – a huge accomplishment when you consider that the game is both a theme park management simulator and an accurately described rollercoaster designer – a fantastic combination that sold to a multitude of ride lovers.
7.
Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Released: Jun ‘02
Estimated Sales: 1 Million
Franchise Sales: 2.9 Million
Revenues: $49.4 Million
Game ranking: 93.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Frozen Throne expansion, Warcraft II and expansion
It’s been said before, but it’s worth saying again – Blizzard doesn’t just make games, it makes lifestyles. Warcraft III is, astoundingly, merely a low-end example of this – it’s a universally loved nearly flawless game that’s played professionally even today, but if failed to seize the lives of countless millions like Starcraft did and still does (though comparing anything to the Starcraft phenomenon is admittedly unfair). So it has to settle for being #7, the lowest-rated Blizzard entry on this list. Think about that.
6.
Sim City 3000 Unlimited
Publisher: Maxis
Developer: Maxis
Released: Jan ’00
Estimated Sales: 1.1 Million
Franchise Sales: 3.4 Million
Revenues: $27.5 Million
Game ranking: 78.0%
Other Franchise Hits: Sim City 2000, Sim City 4 and expansions
Unlimited was a cheaper enhanced repackaging of a 1998’s Sim City 3000, and the fact that it’s this high on the list speaks to how the Will Wright-created brand has resonated with just about every type of gamer. A lot has been said about the city planning game’s elegant but deep mechanics, how they use play rules to make statements about how the world should work, etcetera. For our purposes it’s enough to say we’re glad people are playing it in such high numbers.
5.
Zoo Tycoon
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Blue Fang Games
Released: Oct ‘01
Estimated Sales: 1.1 Million
Franchise Sales: 2.9 Million
Revenues: $28.2 Million
Game ranking: 69.4%
Other Franchise Hits: Marine Mania expansion, Dinosaur Digs expansion, Zoo Tycoon 2
Think of Zoo Tycoon as a game that lets players live the fantasy of owning an entire milieu of exotic pets. Looking at it that way it’s much clearer where the charm of it lies, but Zoo Tycoon is also very kid friendly with its cute animals and relatively easy gameplay. It’s also pretty parent friendly – who wouldn’t want their kid to be a tycoon, after all – but in a sea of business-oriented games the child factor helped make the game stand out and give Microsoft a win.
4.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Publisher: EA
Developer: KnowWonder
Released: Nov ‘01
Estimated Sales: 1.3 Million
Franchise Sales: 2.7 Million
Revenues: $33.9 Million
Game ranking: 68.1%
Other Franchise Hits: Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter is an unstoppable children’s franchise in books, so it’s no surprise that it does this well in PC games as well. Until you take into context that it was significantly lower on console and handheld lists, the PC version of this game outselling the console version two to one. It might be because PC SKUs are traditionally cheaper than console ones, or it may be because there’s a large overlap between young (and young-at-heart) reader and PC fans, but let’s not wax philosophical on the specifics. It’s Harry Potter – enough said.
3.
World of Warcraft
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Released: Nov ’04
Estimated Sales: 1.4 Million
Franchise Sales: 1.4 Million
Revenues: $68.1 Million
Game ranking: 91.6%
Other Franchise Hits: None
Just leave everything to Blizzard. World of Warcraft cracked open the MMORPG market when common knowledge said that market was saturated. The familiar, well-loved setting and clean implementation caused fans to throw caution to the wind and learn to love subscription fees, and as the game reached critical mass it even began pulling into itself players from its entrenched competition. Now more people live World of Warcraft than any other game of its type.
2.
Diablo II
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard North
Released: Jun ’00
Estimated Sales: 1.7 Million
Franchise Sales: 4.5 Million
Revenues: $67.1 Million
Game ranking: 88.4%
Other Franchise Hits: Lords of Destruction expansion, Diablo
Diablo II is one of the few games on this list older than five years that still has an active fan base, though since it is a Blizzard game that’s hardly surprising. The game has since spawned countless contenders, and though many of them are on this list, they will have to content themselves with nipping at Diablo’s heels – the game was and is so popular that it has existed on the shelves of major retailers since it was created.
1.
The Sims
Publisher: EA
Developer: Maxis
Released: Feb ‘00
Estimated Sales: 3.2 Million
Franchise Sales: 17.6 Million
Revenues: $129.9 Million
Game ranking: 89.8%
Other Franchise Hits: The Sims 2, any expansion for either game
It’s all true; The Sims is the best-selling PC game of all time. But what you don’t often hear is how much better it has sold than any other PC game. Here the numbers tell the story; even compared to something as overwhelmingly popular as Diablo II, The Sims outsold it nearly two to one. It’s a classic story of huge publisher risk reaping incomparable financial reward – while the scope of its victory may be surprising, it’s hard to contest that The Sims deserves it.
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