Big Bucks: These Are the Most Lucrative Franchises in Gaming

If there’s one cultural industry in 2022 that seems most adept at printing money, it has to be video games. Despite its creation starting much later than the others, such as the movie business, the world of gaming has grown to an almost unbelievable size. According to data by the Entertainment Retailers Association in the U.K. in 2019, gaming was worth more than video and music combined. It’s not just in the U.K. though, that these kind of vast sums are being seen, as globally in 2021, the gaming industry had a mammoth $180 billion in revenue, as reported by Newzoo.

Whilst there are seemingly hundreds of different games being released each year, a massive part of these insane numbers are made up of purchases from a select few franchises. These are the gaming equivalents of the Marvel movie series, unstoppable juggernauts that have made a huge impression over the entire industry. Let’s take a look then, at which are the most lucrative franchises in gaming, and are seriously bringing in the big bucks.

This first-person shooter series has completely blown its rivals out the water since it first shot onto consoles back in 2003. Call of Duty began life as a World War II focussed franchise, with the first three games in the series being set in that period of history. However, in 2007, they switched to modern day war-zones, with the highly praised Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Subsequently, the series has now featured settings as varied as the First World War, the Cold War, all the way to fictional future wars that are located in outer space.

Due to this constant commitment to reinventing the series, consumers have never tired of its formula, and it consistently moves massive numbers. The series has currently sold around 435 million copies and shows no signs of slowing down. Interestingly, Microsoft and Sony’s feud over the franchise is still heating up, due to the former acquiring the franchise’s owners, Activision Blizzard.

This next entry might confuse many, as after all, how enticing could a falling-blocks puzzle game be in an industry where you can now dive headfirst into a virtual open world, and completely forget that real life exists? Well, the answer turns out to be, extremely enticing, as ever since Tetris dropped onto the original Game Boy in the 1980’s, its many iterations have sold exceptionally well.

This is because it’s the perfect game to play on the go, and it continues to have life breathed into it by the rapid rise of mobile gaming. In fact, it’s sold a whopping 495 million units since January 1988, but 425 million of them have amazingly been for paid mobile game downloads. It just goes to show, that even a simple game can be immensely popular, if it’s loads of fun to play. Mix that with being able to dip in and out of it, and you’ve got a recipe for unbridled success.

Lastly, it might not be too much of a surprise that the biggest icon of gaming, also happens to be the most lucrative franchise. Mario has been jumping over all his competition since he first arrived onto arcade machines in 1981’s Donkey Kong. He got given his own title in 1983’s Mario Bros. (although technically he shared it with his less adored brother, Luigi) and from there he’s leapt from strength to strength. He’s starred in everything from platform games, to kart racing, all the way to online slot games, such as Mario’s Gold.

If you’re a fan of playing online slots, then you can find Mario ones, as well as literally thousands of others, over at Vegas Slots Online. They also have the best no deposit bonus casino available, meaning players can access gambling sites where the bonuses actually let you always keep what you win. Plus, you don’t have to throw down any money at the start to receive them, making it a no brainer. They even keep them updated with the latest offers, so there’s always new ones popping up for you to take advantage of.

With the super athletic Italian plumber having his fingers in so many pies then, it’s no wonder that his sales are so stratospheric. The Nintendo invention has sold a colossal 760.21 million units at the time of writing.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes