A newly updated list of the best-selling FPS franchises started making the rounds online this week (e.g., on NeoGAF), and it has players arguing again about which series truly affected the genre.
The numbers look straightforward at first glance, but one detail hit everyone the hardest:
Borderlands has sold more copies than Battlefield
Yeah. Really.
According to the gathered sales data, the top FPS franchises look roughly like this:
Top FPS Franchise Sales
- Call of Duty: ~500 million
- Borderlands: ~96.5 million
- Battlefield: ~95.7 million
- Halo: ~81 million
- Counter-Strike: ~72 million
- Tom Clancy FPS: ~72 million
- Far Cry: ~60 million
- Destiny: ~50 million
- Overwatch: ~50 million
Call of Duty dominating is not a surprise. But Borderlands beating Battlefield? That is the one that caught everyone off guard.
If you spend any time in FPS communities, you already know many players assumed Battlefield would be comfortably ahead. Years of hype, huge marketing pushes, the main competitor role next to Call of Duty… it looked like the game would naturally always sit at number two.
Instead, Borderlands quietly climbed past it over time. Fewer releases, but crazy strong sales every time.
Halo and CS Players Had Thoughts
Halo sitting under Borderlands is also a rather big surprise for many fans, especially because the numbers may not include Game Pass and Infinite. Meanwhile, Counter-Strike, sitting at ~72 million, feels almost strange since the series is one of the biggest live shooters ever, even if it is free-to-play now.
Basically: total units sold do not always tell the whole story.
What About the Classics?
A few franchises in the list feel nostalgic at this point:
- Half-Life: ~26 million
- Doom: ~20 million
- Wolfenstein: ~12.6 million
- Titanfall: ~11 million
- Metro: ~16.2 million
Fans are already asking the same thing: if these series ever got the same marketing power as modern giants, how much higher could they go?
The Part That Surprised Everyone
It is not only about sales. It taps into identity. Community pride. Favorite-shooter arguments around Discord and Reddit since … forever.
Yes, Call of Duty still holds the crown. But Borderlands sneaking into second place over Battlefield? That one fire-started a lot of conversations.
At the end of the day, it is a reminder that hype, reviews, and live-service chatter do not always match long-term player numbers. Sometimes the quieter giant is still massive.
Which FPS series do you think deserves a comeback next?
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