Best-Selling Video Games in 2015: The New Console Generation Finally Takes Over
The year of 2015 is far from over, but there have already been a hefty amount of best-selling video games that have dropped and sold massive numbers of copies throughout the world. 2015 looks like a stronger year for games than 2014 when you look at titles such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Mortal Kombat X, Bloodborne, Batman: Arkham Knight, Dying Light, Battlefield: Hardline, and games that are still to come for the holiday season, including Rise of the Tomb Raider, Just Cause 3, Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops III. There will surely be some big sellers to close what has been a huge year for gaming.
Overall, the new console generation has truly settled in during 2015. In 2014, it seemed that the major publishers and developers were still not quite ready to move on from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, in 2015, the catalog for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles grew exponentially. Case in point: Warner Bros Interactive ultimately decided to ditch developing last-gen console versions of Mortal Kombat X for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The same decision was made for Mad Max, another Warner Bros. Interactive title (via Game Informer). The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are here. It’s time to move on. More consumers are buying the new consoles. According to a report by Eurogamer, Sony Computer Entertainment expects to sell 38.8 million PlayStation 4 units by March of next year. Per VGChartz.com, the Xbox One had sold over 13 million units as of July 2015. That number has surely increased in recent months; and it will go even higher over the holidays with the release of exclusive titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider. In short, consumers are buying the new consoles, and they want games that are made exactly for those consoles in mind.
When you look at the best-selling games of 2015, one title certainly stands out from the list: Grand Theft Auto V. That is because Grand Theft Auto V was originally a game that was released in 2013, and it was only available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox One at launch. However, it did not become available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One until 2015. Per VGChartz.com, the new console generation has basically given Grand Theft Auto V a new lease on life. In 2015, the game has sold over 2.1 million copies for the PlayStation 4 (7.505 million overall), and over one million copies for the Xbox One (3.14 million overall). Apparently, giving the players the new-gen upgrade for Grand Theft Auto V made a significant difference by adding more playable characters, a larger open-world sandbox with Los Santos and a new, optional first-person shooter mode.
So, while 2014 was a bit lacking in some of the more exciting games for the new generation of console gaming, 2015 struck back with a vengeance. As more consumers are switching to the new consoles, there are finally some better, higher quality games to meet that demand. The high sales for this year clearly seem to reflect that. I believe that will continue through the rest of this year.