Never underestimate the power of loyalty when it comes to gamers, because they will die for a new video game in their favorite franchise. This medium has rapidly grown over the past couple of decades, with titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and God of War redefining what video games are. However, while new games are needed, the best-selling video games are usually part of a franchise.
There are countless video game franchises, and this list will rank the ten greatest of all time based on aspects such as a balance of quantity and quality, consistency, sales, popularity, innovation, influence, design, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall quality. Red Dead Redemption may have two of the best games ever, but it is hard to compete against an established game series with dozens of entries.
10 'Assassin's Creed'
Image via UbisoftA lot of franchises on this list have undertaken massive identity shifts, but one of the biggest changes comes from Assassin's Creed, which moved from stealth to open-world 3D action. Each game has players entering a machine that takes them into the past, controlling an assassin from history as they try to help save the world by taking down high-profile targets who threaten the peace.
Not every Assassin's Creed game is a masterpiece, but the franchise is still a legendary one because of its revolutionary stealth mechanics and iconic look. Taking on a new setting in every game spices it up with new historical intrigue and political drama. The new Assassin's Creed games focus on large worlds and mythological battles, which, while different, are still compelling.
9 'Halo'
Image via MicrosoftThe most mainstream genre is arguably the FPS, which simulates real combat experience under gunfire, and Xbox capitalized on this by delivering the Halo franchise. Playing as the iconic Master Chief, gamers travel throughout the galaxy in an endless war against aliens, specifically the Covenant and the Flood, in different games.
Halo has some of the best video game sequels, highlighting an incredible stretch from the first one until the fourth. The first revolutionized the shooter genre while the second continued to pioneer the multiplayer experience, with the latter ones perfecting said formula. However, Halo does stumble with its fifth game, and while Halo Infinite was good, it is rather forgettable, diminishing a legendary legacy.
8 'Sonic the Hedgehog'
Image via SegaSome of the best video game franchises also have the most iconic characters in the medium, such as Sonic the Hedgehog. Some gamers like to take things slow and explore, others prefer to go fast, and that is exactly what this franchise offers. Players control the legendary blue hedgehog as they run around green hills and scientific facilities in order to stop the dastardly Robotnik/Doctor Eggman.
While the franchise is more known for its movies nowadays and nostalgic cartoons, it is still a video game franchise with some of the most memorable gaming experiences. Unfortunately, the Sonic the Hedgehog brand is lesser known for their video games, but historically, the franchise is rooted in gaming excellence, delivering a feeling of velocity and engagement unlike any other.
7 'Call of Duty'
Image via ActivisionAs mentioned, the FPS genre might be the most popular, and the greatest franchise it has to offer is Call of Duty. Every year or so, Activision releases a new Call of Duty game centred around authentic shooting gameplay. Sometimes set in the modern age, other times in a historical setting or in the far future, it is all about warfare during different times.
Call of Duty is often criticized for producing the same video game every year, and while they do sometimes have repetitive gameplay and similar styles, the franchise is still too popular to leave off this list. The old games are known for having some of the most defining video game experiences. Playing late-night COD with friends and its satisfying combat is a common yet unrivalled time that popularized the franchise.
6 'Pokémon'
Image via The Pokémon CompanyEven if some of the franchises on this list have disappointing games, they can make it on here if they are popular enough, and there is no franchise as big as Pokémon. This legendary RPG has players catching every Pokémon they can, defeating the eight gym leaders and whatever evil team threatens the region. Each game is set in a new region with different creatures and a fresh adventure.
Pokémon has lost a lot of credibility after making the move to 3D, especially recently on the Nintendo Switch with their buggy releases. However, no matter what happens, this franchise has already established itself as the most well-known gaming brand. Up until the 3DS era, every game was a riveting new experience. Pokémon is more than a gaming franchise; it is a pop culture identity that transcends video games, not to mention it is the largest media franchise in the world.
5 'Final Fantasy'
Image via Square EnixEveryone loves a good fantasy game, and after the recent remake, Final Fantasy is once again back on top. This JRPG gaming franchise first started in 1987 and is an anthology series, with each new entry following a new cast with a different story. Starting out as a top-down 2D adventure, it has since delved into the 3D realm.
With around 16 entries in this video game franchise, Final Fantasy is an expansive series that has a die-hard fanbase. However, it is best known for the sixth and seventh games, which are timeless experiences that innovated through their storytelling, scale, and gameplay. Final Fantasy has some of the best villains in video game history, which helps create such a rich and compelling experience.
4 'Resident Evil'
Image via CapcomThe horror genre is one of the most renowned in video game history because of the immersion and greater sense of fear, and Resident Evil understood this. Whether it be zombies or mutated creatures, each game has supernatural fiends causing mayhem wherever they go, with the player needing to stop them. Resident Evil defined the survival horror genre while constantly offering new styles.
Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, this franchise has never been more popular, with new remakes being announced, a ninth game being a game of the year candidate, and a movie coming out later in the year. Ranging from an immersive and haunting horror experience to an action-packed survival masterclass, Resident Evil constantly reinvents itself to innovate on the horror genre and push the franchise to new heights.
3 'The Legend of Zelda'
When it comes to franchises, Nintendo has some of the most critically acclaimed and popular, such as Kirby and Metroid. However, the best reviewed is The Legend of Zelda, which commonly follows Link as he travels around the kingdom of Hyrule to save the princess Zelda from the evil clutches of Ganondorf as he tries to claim the Triforce for himself.
The Legend of Zelda franchise has always been critically acclaimed, but it has also reached a new level of popularity with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which brought it to an open world. From the intricately designed dungeons to the sense of adventure and exploration it evokes to the whimsical world full of lore and wonder, this franchise is ageless. The Legend of Zelda has no bad games, whether it be the charming 2D games, the dungeon-based classic 3D Zelda titles, or the new age open-air experiences.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
FIND YOUR UNIVERSE →
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
ABeing part of something larger than myself — a cause, a rebellion, a fight for freedom that outlasts me. BThe journey itself — the places I'll go, the companions beside me, the world I'll discover on the way. CLearning — unlocking what I'm capable of, understanding the world's hidden mechanics, growing into something more. DLegacy — the name I leave behind, the power I build, the mark I make before the world moves on without me. EUnderstanding — exploring what exists beyond the horizon and asking what it means to be alive in a universe this vast.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
AA galaxy of planets, each with its own culture — connected by conflict, trade, and the Force. BAncient lands of breathtaking beauty, deep history, and a creeping darkness at the edges. CA world hidden inside our own — full of wonder, community, and magic waiting to be learned. DA brutal, beautiful continent where power is everything and every alliance is a calculation. EA future where humanity has reached the stars — and must decide what kind of species it wants to be.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world's conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
AThrough sacrifice and courage — someone has to make the impossible choice so others don't have to. BThrough fellowship — the impossible becomes possible when the right people walk the same road. CThrough growth — confronting what you fear, understanding what you lack, and becoming equal to the challenge. DThrough strategy — outthinking, outmaneuvering, positioning yourself so the outcome was never in doubt. EThrough dialogue — finding the third option, the peaceful resolution, the answer that doesn't require a body count.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
AA small crew — a pilot, a rogue, a warrior — each broken in their own way, unbeatable together. BA fellowship of different kinds of people, bound by purpose and deepened by the long road. CFriends who grew up alongside me — who knew me before I knew myself, and stayed anyway. DAllies whose loyalty I've earned — and tested — and whose ambitions align with mine, for now. EA crew of brilliant, curious, principled people from every corner of known space.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
AI want to use it to protect — and I'm terrified of what I might become if I'm not careful. BI distrust it. The most important power in this story is the courage to give it up. CI want to earn it — through knowledge, through effort, through becoming someone worthy of it. DI want to wield it. Preferably before someone else decides to wield it against me. EI want to understand it — its structures, its limits, its ethical dimensions. Power without accountability is the real threat.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world's moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
AThere is a dark side and a light side — and the choice between them is always present, always personal. BEvil is real and ancient and patient — and goodness, however small, is the only thing that can undo it. CGood and evil are real, but they live inside people — and people are complicated, always capable of both. DGood and evil are mostly a matter of perspective and proximity. Power is the only honest currency. EEvil is usually the result of ignorance, fear, or broken systems — and understanding it is the first step to solving it.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
AThe reluctant hero — ordinary origins, extraordinary moment, changed forever by the choice to act. BThe unlikely carrier — the one nobody expected to matter most, quietly bearing the weight of everything. CThe student — not yet who I'll become, learning through every mistake, growing into something the world needs. DThe player — sharp enough to see the game for what it is, ambitious enough to try to win it. EThe explorer — drawn to the unknown, driven by curiosity, most alive when standing somewhere no one has stood before.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
AThat hope is real — that even in the darkest galaxy, a new hope is always possible. CThat even the smallest person can change the course of the future, if they have the courage to try. CThat love and friendship and doing what's right will matter in the end, even when everything says otherwise. DThat the wheel keeps turning — that power shifts, winters end, and what endures is those willing to fight for it. EThat humanity — or whatever we become — is capable of extraordinary things, if we choose to be.
REVEAL MY UNIVERSE →
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
- You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
- You'd find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
- Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
- The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world's beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
- Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
- You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
- Tolkien's universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
- Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what's right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
- The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
- You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
- Harry Potter's universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
- That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
- Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
- You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don't confuse the world as it is with the world as you'd like it to be.
- Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
- Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
- Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
- You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
- The Federation is the universe's most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
- You don't just hope that's possible. You think it's the only thing worth working toward.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
2 'Grand Theft Auto'
Image via Rockstar Games, Inc.Rockstar is a prolific video game studio known for a couple of franchises, including Grand Theft Auto. Every game is set in a new world inspired by a real American city, from Los Angeles to New York City to Miami. Usually playing as criminals, gamers maneuver their way through the crime-filled city just trying to make a living, but this usually gets them involved with the police and other underworld enemies.
The Legend of Zelda is more recognizable as it never strays too far from its dedicated style, but Grand Theft Auto has better sales and general popularity. Not to mention, this franchise has some of the most critically acclaimed video games that are all revolutionary masterpieces, brimming with ambition and scale. Grand Theft Auto VI is bound to be the largest video game in history, further cementing this franchise as one of the best.
1 'Mario'
Image via NintendoSome franchises are iconic because of the games, others due to the main character, but for Mario, it is both. The red plumber never takes a day off, always needing to rescue Princess Peach from the dastardly Bowser. However, the Mario franchise is more than just a platformer; it expands to sports games, party titles, RPGs, and kart racing sensations.
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While this entry doesn't include closely related franchises like Luigi's Mansion, Yoshi, Peach, Wario, and Super Smash Bros., it does count the Mario Party, RPG games like Paper Mario, Mario sports games, and Mario Kart alongside the 2D and 3D platformers. Mario is a staple in the video game industry, with everyone knowing the iconic character. All the games sell well, especially the inventive platformers that are the best of the genre.
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