10 of the Most Played Arcade Games of All Time

Coin-operated arcade games have been around since 1971, when Nutting Associates released Computer Space. Over the next few decades, arcade games became infinitely more complex, allowing players to control a variety of characters, ships, vehicles, and more in battles for world domination and high scores. Throughout the 1980s and well into the ‘90s, arcades were where people played games the most, and in that time, kids and adults fed billions of dollars’ worth of quarters into a plethora of popular cabinets. We’ve crunched the numbers, and these ten arcade games consumed more quarters than any others.

10) Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong was a highly innovative platformer when it was released, introducing many of the genre’s core elements. It was a massive success for Nintendo, saving the company from financial ruin while simultaneously establishing the career of one of the industry’s best and brightest, Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo sold around 132,000 cabinets to businesses, primarily in North America, earning an estimated $280 million in revenue by 1982. Adjusted for inflation to 2025, that figure rises to $942.4 million, or 3,769,900,000 individual quarters. Of course, Nintendo didn’t stop with this one cabinet and has since expanded Donkey Kong into a franchise worth billions.

9) Mortal Kombat

It’s difficult to convey how important Mortal Kombat was to gaming in general, as it elevated the industry from primarily focusing on children to adult-oriented entertainment. This caused widespread problems with parents who decried the violent imagery, but these days, the original MK is tame by comparison. Regardless, its notoriety only boosted the game’s popularity as kids rushed into arcades to give it a try and score a fatality over their friends. While Midway sold fewer cabinets than Nintendo’s Donkey Kong, with an estimated 24,000, it stopped selling them in 2002, and the company made significantly more money, totaling around $570 million. Adjusted, that’s $1.03 billion, or 4,120,000,000 quarters.

8) Mortal Kombat II

Unsurprisingly to anyone paying attention at the time, Mortal Kombat II was even more popular than its predecessor, storming into arcades in 1993. Like the first title in the franchise, people gathered around the cabinets, playing for as long as they could feed quarters into its slots. It also had a controversial and significant impact on popular culture. Some of the controversy had died down after the second game, but it remained a target for parents’ groups and politicians. Regardless, Mortal Kombat II outsold Mortal Kombat by more than 3,000 cabinets, netting Midway another $600 million by 2002. When adjusted, that comes out to $1.08 billion, or 4,320,000,000 quarters. 

7) Asteroids

By modern standards, Asteroids is a simple game that’s a bit repetitive, but when it was released in 1979, it was a massive hit. The game was one of the earliest upright cabinets sold to arcades. You could often find them for years after Asteroids’ release, as it remained popular well into the early ’90s. It was also highly influential on a multitude of games that followed, and Atari sold around 100,000 cabinets in both upright and cocktail formats. When sales ended years later, Atari had netted an estimated $800 million by 1991. That comes out to $1.9 billion in 2025, or a whopping 7,600,000,000 quarters.

6) Defender

Defender was released in 1981, when the nascent concept of a scrolling shooter was enough to get people to walk into arcades with full pockets, only to leave empty-handed. The game is easily one of the most important titles from the Golden Age of Arcade Games, selling more than 60,000 units. This made it Williams Electronics’ best-selling system and a huge money-maker for the company. While it was introduced in the early history of arcades, most kept Defender around for years, earning Williams a cool $1 billion from sales by 1993. Adjusted, that amounts to $2.25 billion in 2025, or a literal truckload of quarters: 9,000,000,000.

5) NBA Jam

When Midway released NBA Jam in 1993, it changed how people saw sports games. There had been many preceding it, but NBA Jam upped the ante with far superior graphics, controls, sound, and more. It popularized basketball games, leading to an influx of them over the years, and had a significant impact on the industry as a whole. The game’s popularity kept players busy for extended periods, often resulting in lines forming of people wanting to play. Midway sold around 20,000 cabinets to arcades, netting an estimated $1.1 billion by 1994, only one year after its release. When adjusted, that comes out to $2.4 billion, or 9,600,000,000 quarters.

4) Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man began life as a modification kit for Pac-Man cabinets, and the games are indeed quite similar. That said, Ms. Pac-Man, released in 1982, which was two years after its predecessor, features numerous technical upgrades that make the game more challenging. Players loved this, and while many think it was marketed to young girls, millions upon millions of young boys and adult men played it to no end. It remains one of the most important games of the era, and Bally Midway sold over 125,000 cabinets of various types. This resulted in an impressive $1.2 billion by 1987, or $3.43 billion. That comes out to 13,720,000,000 quarters.

3) Street Fighter II: Champion Edition

It’s impossible to imagine modern fighting games had Street Fighter II/Champion Edition not been released in 1992. The new version of the game is more balanced, features four playable Grand Masters, and numerous features common to the genre today. It was one of the most important games released in the 1990s, and people around the world entered tournaments to become world champions. Capcom sold around 140,000 Champion Edition cabinets, bringing in around $2.3 billion by 1995. Adjusted, that’s over $4.9 billion, or 19,600,000,000 quarters.

2) Space Invaders

Space Invaders is another classic game from the earliest days of arcades and the oldest on this list, having been released in 1978. It features a challenging yet relatively simple gameplay style, where players fire at invading aliens that get faster the closer they get to the ground. This was the game that influenced all fixed shooters, as it’s the OG. Games like Galaga probably wouldn’t exist were it not for Space Invaders, which remains in popular culture nearly half a century after its release. Taito sold around 360,000 cabinets of various types, netting around $2.7 billion by 1982. That comes out to $9.09 billion, or 36,360,000,000 quarters.

1) Pac-Man

Of all the coin-operated arcade games released over the years, the one to make the most money is Pac-Man. The classic game was an instant hit when Namco released it in 1980. It not only spawned multiple sequels and spin-offs, but also a cartoon, breakfast cereal, and much more. Having sold an estimated 400,000 Pac-Man cabinets, Namco made around $3.5 billion, or a good $10.57 billion when adjusted to 2025. That comes out to 42,280,000,000 quarters, which is a lot. In fact, that many quarters would weigh 528,805,879 lbs., or 264,403 tons — more than twice the weight of the largest aircraft carrier ever built.

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