The Most Popular Game In Each Year of the 2000s

Retro enthusiasts might say that video games hit their stride in the 1990s, but the 2000s had much to offer that the preceding decade couldn’t hope to achieve. Technological innovations led to a boom in fantastic new franchises, many of which continue to this day. There were tons of new entries in multiple genres, including platformers, fighting games, RPGs, first-person shooters, stealth games, and many more. Every year sees the release of hundreds of great games, but not every one of them can be called the most popular. Popularity isn’t always quantifiable as a metric, so for this article, it’s primarily based on sales, but also each game’s overall impact on the industry in the year it was released — expect a few ties.

2000) The Sims

The year 2000 saw a ton of great development with an influx of excellent games, including Diablo 2, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, and Perfect Dark, to name a few. Still, the most popular game from the year isn’t those, nor is it Pokémon Gold and Silver, which took the 1999 spot. It’s The Sims, not because it was the best-selling game of the year (Pokémon holds that distinction); it’s because of the widespread influence it had on gaming and how well it brought in new gamers who’d never played anything like it previously. The social simulation game offered an evolution in terms of open-ended gameplay, building on the likes of SimCity and other similar titles. The Sims has sold over 40 million copies since its release and remains popular decades later.

2001) Grand Theft Auto III & Halo: Combat Evolved

Two games helped define the industry in 2001: Grand Theft Auto III on the PlayStation 2 and Halo: Combat Evolved on the Xbox. The third entry in the franchise is also its first 3D game, which became the standard for the titles that followed, and it was wildly successful. Grand Theft Auto III was actually finished and ready to go in September 2001, but was delayed because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. After its release, it became a smashing success. Over on the competition’s console, Halo became the reason people bought the Xbox, as it offered excellent multiplayer and an immersive, lore-filled single-player campaign. It would have been criminal to choose one of these games over the other, but the following 2001 titles deserve mention: Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy X, Madden NFL 2002, and Metal Gear Solid 2.

2002) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

There were numerous popular games released in 2002, including Metroid Prime, Super Mario Sunshine, Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet & Clank, Madden NFL 2003, and others, but the top spot goes to another of Rockstar Games’ best, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The game features a brilliantly written campaign set in 1986’s Vice City, which is essentially Miami, Florida. It includes real-world events that have been fictionalized alongside real people and was an astounding success. It was the best-selling game of the year, moving over 14 million copies on the PlayStation 2, and many more in the years since its 2002 release.

2003) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Cards on the table, the best-selling game of 2003 was Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire, but we’re not giving the prize to that game, no matter how good it is. The reason is that 2003 is the year that LucasArts gifted the world with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. This is the game that’s most often considered to be the best Star Wars game of all time, and for good reason. It’s one of the best role-playing games, steeped in Star Wars Legends lore, and an amazing game. We chose this one over the aforementioned, which is a great title, and there was some competition. The year saw the releases of the first Call of Duty, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Enter the Matrix, and many more, but no matter! KOTOR takes the lead.

2004) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

It’s fair to say that Rockstar Games ruled the 2000s because it released some of the best games of the decade. In 2004, it dropped Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which squeaked past Halo 2 by a hair to become the most popular and best-selling game of the year. The game is set in 1992 and takes place in San Andreas, based on California and Nevada, and it’s filled with all the things fans had come to expect from the GTA franchise. It sold so well that it is now the best-selling PlayStation 2 game, having sold over 17 million copies, though an additional 10+ million have been sold on other platforms since its release.

2005) World of Warcraft & God of War

While World of Warcraft was released in 2004, it didn’t come out until November, so it took a minute for the game to become the massive beast that it remains today. In doing so, it easily swept past most of the competition to land in the top spot alongside God of War, which also remains a popular franchise to this day. Both games sold remarkably well upon release and continue to influence their respective genres decades later. Other games that competed for 2005’s top spot include the year’s best-selling game, Madden NFL 06, as well as Resident Evil 4, Half-Life 2, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and Pokémon Emerald.

2006) Gears of War

A big year for video games came in 2006 with the releases of Kingdom Hearts II and New Super Mario Bros., but in the end, it came down to three games: Gears of War, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Guitar Hero II. All three are great games, and while the Gears of War franchise has slowed down in recent years (A new one is coming in 2026), it takes the lead for its innovation in the 3rd-person shooter genre, as well as the absolute brutality that sets it apart from the competition. Instead of a standard melee attack, you fire up a chainsaw and go to town, making Gears of War a tremendously violent and exciting game. While not the first to do so, its use of a cover system popularized the concept in subsequent games in the genre.

2007) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare & Assassin’s Creed

While we skipped over the first Call of Duty, which is inarguably an important game, we’re giving some 2007 love to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This is the game that took the franchise out of World War II and significantly innovated it. It won numerous awards and spawned a spinoff franchise that continues today, with a reboot launched in 2019. While the first Modern Warfare is fantastic, leaving out Assassin’s Creed would likely land this humble writer on Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad’s ancestors’ list of targets! The game seemingly came out of nowhere and turned the action-adventure genre on its head with its brilliant fictionalized historical analysis of the Third Crusade. Not only did it spawn a massive franchise that continues to this day, but Assassin’s Creed is easily one of the greatest video games ever made.

2008) Fallout 3

Believe it or not, the best-selling game of 2008 was Wii Play/Wii Fit. That’s to do with being bundled with the hardware, and while it was a fun, movement-based game, we’re not going with that. Both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and GTA IV were released in 2008, and while it’s truly up there, this list has featured Rockstar’s games too heavily, and we don’t want to overlook the monumental success of Fallout 3. The threequel in the Fallout franchise (We don’t consider the BoS games for this) transformed the role-playing game into an action-adventure FPS RPG that redefined the genre and restored the franchise’s momentum, making it one of the biggest of the decade. Fallout 3 remains one of the best games in the franchise, and one of the best games ever made.

2009) Batman: Arkham Asylum

Another good year for video games came in 2009, which saw the release of FIFA 10, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, among others. Still, while the competition was high, the most popular game of the year has to be Batman: Arkham Asylum. There had been previous Batman games that were fantastic, but Arkham Asylum made them all look like child’s play in comparison. The game launched a franchise, and many consider it among the best DC Comics-based games ever made, though its sequel, Batman: Arkham City, is slightly better. Regardless, The Dark Knight dominated 2009, and I’ll die on that hill!

Which game do you think is the best of the decade? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

The Most Popular Game In Each Year of the 1990s