Top 10 highest grossing PC games of all time

The personal computer, once a niche machine for hobbyists, has become a dominant force in the gaming industry. While consoles often take the spotlight for blockbuster titles, PC gaming offers a unique blend of affordability, customizability, and a vast library of experiences.

While there are numerous famous PC games, some have reached remarkable success, earning billions of dollars. In this article, we’ll take a look at the top 10 highest grossing PC games of all time. Let’s check the list of top-performing PC games.

1. World of Warcraft (2004)

A titan of the MMORPG genre, World of Warcraft (WoW) needs little introduction. Blizzard Entertainment’s creation took the world by storm, offering a vast, immersive world of Azeroth filled with quests, dungeons, and epic lore. WoW’s subscription model, coupled with consistent expansions and updates, ensured a steady stream of revenue for over a decade. The game’s ability to foster social connections and build a dedicated player base cemented its position as the king of PC gaming revenue for a long time.

League of Legends

League of Legends is a popular MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game released in 2009. The game has over 100 million active monthly players and has grossed over $1 billion.

The gambling company said its revenue increased by 13.5% yearly to $407 million. While PUBG: Mobile had a 5% year-over-year growth in revenue, earning $307 million over that period. According to the report, net profit increased by 26% to $190 million for the quarter.

Krafton credited PUBG: Battlegrounds’ success after being free-to-play for PC and console in January for a portion of its quarterly increase. This comes to 2nd place in our Top 10 highest-grossing PC games list.

The publisher reported that “the number of paying users climbed more than two-fold, so significantly contributing to strengthened quarterly sales.”

The shooter’s PC sales brought in $82.3 million, a 61% increase over the same period last year. However, console sales increased by 274% over the same time.

Dota 2

Dota 2 is another MOBA game that was released in 2013. The game has over 10 million active monthly players and has grossed over $600 million dollars. This implies that Dota 2 is a game that you can never fully master and that neither its creators nor its players can perfect. Learning is difficult: I’ve been playing regularly for the last six years and am not very good. But that trip has been among the most fulfilling and amazing videogame experiences ever.

People come together via learning, imparting information, and adjusting to ongoing change: I have formed lifelong friends by playing Dota 2, and we now have a rich language anchored in this vast, bizarre, and gorgeous game.

Dota 2’s intrinsic adaptability is another factor in why it is such an engaging esport. Its intricate sandbox enables a wide range of playstyles across teams, players, and geographical areas. Dota has been ranked at 3rd place in our Top 10 highest-grossing PC games list.

While there have been sporadic restricted metagames, they have never been sustained, and in seven years of high-profile competition, the field has remained open to challengers from all over the world who have a variety of diverse strategies for tackling that central strategic problem.

The greatest players are in a position to take advantage of the innovation that Dota 2’s basic simulation encourages, and it’s a sheer delight to watch when the metagame is completely altered by a spectacular piece of lateral thinking, which occurs at least once each International.

The Battle Pass alone brought in $160 million for the game in 2020. If you’re wondering why there aren’t any more recent figures, it’s because Valve no longer shares information on how much money the firm generates from Dota 2. They must have surpassed the billion mark by now, but we might never know. Even more so when you consider that 25% of the proceeds go toward The International’s prize money while Valve keeps 75% of the total.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) released in 2004. The game has over 7 million active subscribers and has grossed over $5.5 billion.

The most recent expansion for World of Warcraft is called Shadowlands; Dragonflight was only just unveiled. New features, new zones, an improved levelling system, and an updated gear system were all implemented.

With a tonne of more features. Objectively levelling became simpler for new or returning players who missed a few expansions. The educational system improved (well, balanced out). Even now, PvP remains a miserable experience, especially for novice players. The newest patch, 9.2 included catch-up mechanics for returning players so they may rejoin Mythic+10 dungeons and standard Raids.

The grind is still present, and WoW can occasionally seem like a job. Additionally, Blizzard previously included time-gating features that purposefully restrict your growth every week.

In 2022, World of Warcraft is still a worthwhile game to play. Because it offers excellent catch-up mechanics, unlike many other MMOs, both new and returning players may enjoy playing it and even prosper there. Even 18 years after its debut, it still receives frequent content updates, and its player base is largely consistent (peaking at the introduction of new expansions).

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a first-person shooter game that was released in 2012. The game has over 25 million active players and over $1 billion. A rich history of multiplayer first-person shooter games, including the original Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source, served as the foundation for Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s (CS: GO) 2012 release.

Six years later, the action-packed PC game still mainly competes favourably with more recent games, partly due to its well-established core gameplay and vibrant community.

However, CS: GO’s visuals are getting dated, and it lacks the thematic variety of other well-known games like Overwatch. It’s undoubtedly in our Top 10 highest-grossing PC games list. Even it could remain there for many time. Nevertheless, CS: GO’s straightforward gameplay and competitive atmosphere will appeal to many people, especially now that it is free to play. So how can CS: GO maintain its leading position in a sector that has seen significant diversification since 2012?

Its enormous esports fanbase accounts for a significant portion of its success. It consistently ranks high among the most popular shows on Mixer and Twitch, and it gains from a thriving competitive market. Even a specific Watch area is included in the game so you can follow and watch events.

Overwatch

Overwatch is a team-based shooter game that was released in 2016. The game has over 30 million active players and has grossed over $1 billion dollars. Overwatch is the most recent in a long line of hero-focused action games that have dominated the video game industry in recent years.

The shooter that Blizzard created for the genre emphasises class collaboration and synergy. Lone wolves are abandoned to perish in the Overwatch universe.

Overwatch is a multiplayer shooter that is quite similar to Team Fortress 2, adhering to battles with well-defined goals. It’s a variation of “grab this point” or “defend this point” in every game.

While not entirely novel, these fundamental goals achieve one significant goal: They constantly pit a variety of odd heroes against one another as they compete for the same plot of land. True, a few of these characters fit well-known tropes. Torbjörn is much like the turret-making Engineer from Team Fortress 2, and Soldier: 76 plays like he just got off a Call of Duty game. However, these characters frequently seem distinctive inside Overwatch itself and are a lot of fun to play.

But part of this may also be attributed to Overwatch’s map layout. Certain maps are designed around single chokepoints where the invading squad must stream into certain death, such as a wintry Russian military post or a Japanese town. These chokepoints are tough to get through, but once you do, the maps open out and provide a variety of attack routes to the target.

The Sims 4

The Sims 4 is a life simulation game that was released in 2014. The game has over 5 million active players and has grossed over 1 billion dollars.

In The Sims 4, you can become enraged and defecate furiously into a toilet. It’s a game where, with enough time spent reading a book about mischief, you can persuade someone to run across their neighbourhood.

In this game, you can choose to take a shower so that your Sim feels “flirty.” And if using the restroom to give oneself a soapy seeing to isn’t a euphemism for it, I don’t know what is. The Sims 4 is the most recent edition in the world-conquering virtual doll house series, a highly distinctive collection of enduring games that start off feature-light and skeleton before filling itself up with expansion packs and additional material of various qualities.

Over time, they develop into hideous, bloated, and despicable symbols of utter corporate cynicism. Eventually, they shed their hideous pupa and emerge as another numbered sequel, bare and ready to start over.

Clearly, there are many things lacking from this. A lot of it should be anticipated because pets usually appear sometime between the first and second expansion pack and are never included in the base game.

The selection of apparel is wide enough but mostly generic, and the choices for furnishings seem especially constrained.

Hearthstone is a digital collectable card game that was released in 2014. The game has over 30 million active players and has grossed over $1 billion dollars till date. A collectable card game (CCG) called Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is based in the Warcraft universe. Players get cards that show characters, powers, and spells before assembling them into 30-card decks. Then they start to fight. Richard Garfield’s famous Magic heavily influences the game’s design: the Gathering, the first and largest CCG, but changes just enough to provide Magic: the Gathering players with something fresh (and to get around the fact that the core mechanics of Magic are actually patented).

Participants create a little army on the table by taking turns playing minions or spells while playing head-to-head over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. No doubt Hearthstone secures a place in our Best ten highest grossing PC games list.

While spells can deal damage and draw more cards, create new minions, or even kill your character and replace them with a lord of hell for the remainder of the game, minions can attack one another and the enemy’s hero. The game ends when your hero’s health reaches zero.

The straightforward rules conceal a charming dynamic. While certain minions must be destroyed before the enemy targets anything else, others can strike immediately without waiting for a round. The game itself is a test of time, resource management, and crowd control.

Minecraft

Minecraft is a sandbox game that was released in 2011. The game has over 100 million active players and has grossed over $2 billion dollars till date. Minecraft stands out due to its distinct appearance as well as the way it stimulates my creative thinking. I understand that the graphics are old-fashioned and a little ridiculous, but few games have pictures that are as adorable and endearing.

Because of this, I know I’m not the only one who feels this way; otherwise, Minecraft’s visuals wouldn’t be so well-known. Could you put a Gears of War, Halo, or Uncharted texture on a shirt and get gamers to tell you what it is? I have my doubts.

The aesthetics are flawless, giving the game a distinctive and really original look that makes me slightly nostalgic for games from the 8-bit period. In Minecraft, making things is one of the most crucial things you can accomplish. The issue is that Minecraft doesn’t have the requisite knowledge.

I had no idea what to do with the wood when I first hacked my way through some trees and collected it. Fortunately, I had a mentor who introduced me to the numerous online forums, communities, and wikis, as many other Minecraft players do.

However, the entertainment factor of Minecraft still outweighs the learning curve. The addiction, however, truly starts once you learn to make things and acquire control over your environment. The dark hours of the night, when monsters procreate and take over the lighted areas of the planet, are suddenly less terrifying.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), created by Rockstar Games, is one of the most financially successful video games of all time. Since its initial release in 2013, the game has amassed billions of dollars in revenue, making it one of the most profitable entertainment products in history.

GTA V is an open-world game set in the fictitious metropolis of Los Santos. The game has three main characters, each with its own plot and missions, as well as an online multiplayer element that allows players to participate in a variety of activities with others from all over the world.

The game’s fascinating storyline and immersive gameplay are important elements in its popularity. The game includes a large open-world area in which players can explore, accomplish tasks, and engage in various illegal activities.

Another important component in the game’s success is its online multiplayer function, which lets players engage with one another in a variety of ways, including heists, racing, and other activities. The online mode has been continuously updated, with new content and features added to keep gamers interested.

GTA V has been a juggernaut in terms of financial performance. Over 135 million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, making it one of the best-selling games ever. According to sources, the game has earned more than $6 billion in revenue since its release, making it one of the highest-grossing entertainment items of all time, exceeding even blockbuster films like Avatar and Star Wars.

GTA V’s success has tremendously impacted the gaming industry, motivating other game developers to produce comparable open-world games with compelling storylines and immersive gameplay. It has also emphasised the potential for video games to become big entertainment business actors capable of generating substantial cash and reaching a vast worldwide audience.