PlayStation launched in North America 30 years ago on September 9, 1995. However, Activision’s franchise has seen its greatest success on Sony’s platform.

To mark its 30th birthday, PlayStation announced the Memories campaign. However, an even more interesting detail about the history of PlayStation was revealed by Mat Piscatella, executive director of Circana. Based on Circana’s extensive sales data, he said that nearly half of the best-selling games in the history of PlayStation consoles were Call of Duty games. The sales list he published includes the 20 best-selling PlayStation games in the United States over the past 30 years, up to July 2025, in terms of sales price and number of units sold.

Eleven of the twenty best-selling PlayStation games are from the Call of Duty series. In terms of units sold, nine of the top 20 spots are occupied by Call of Duty games. Interestingly, the first-party games (developed by PlayStation Studios) that made it onto the list are from Insomniac Games and were released within the last seven years: Marvel’s Spider-Man, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel’s Spider-Man appear on the sales list, alongside The Last of Us from Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica’s 2018 God of War.

Another noteworthy title is Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which ranked 10th in dollar sales. Guitar Hero was extremely popular at the time, and the added cost of the plastic guitar controller undoubtedly pushed its revenue higher. Unsurprisingly, Grand Theft Auto V ranks first in both sales revenue and units sold. Minecraft, Red Dead Redemption 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare round out the top five in terms of units sold. Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Red Dead Redemption 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022), and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 dominate the revenue-based rankings.

These results clearly demonstrate the immense popularity of the Call of Duty franchise in the United States. Despite the significant contributions of series such as The Last of Us, God of War, and Marvel’s Spider-Man to PlayStation’s identity, their sales figures pale compared to the consistent success of Call of Duty year after year.

Source: WCCFTech, PS Blog, Bsky