Which franchise is the biggest moneymaker in gaming today?

So many franchises that sell by the bucketloads every single time they have a major game released. Which franchise do you think is the biggest one today in terms of monetary generation? Vote, and also leave your comments as to why you think so!

P.S: If you vote for Other, be sure to specify which one you think is biggest!

unfortunately its CoD...which i hate due to the fact that every game/dev/publisher is trying to emulate it as a game and a business model

Dynasty Warriors 8)

The most sustainable business model, IMO, is Blizzard's approach with WoW, which is something Activision has actively been trying to emulate with CoD. Plus I don't think people will continue to justify the price for map packs, so while CoD may currently make the most money, I don't think the business model is sustainable for 5+ years without capitalizing on the MP with other kinds of downloadable content beyond maps.

it's obviously call of duty, sadly.

Hmm tough choice. I would say Call of duty though I'm really not sure.

Dynasty Warriors 8)

Snyper-007

Warcraft. I don't care how big Call of Duty is, Warcraft is getting a ton of money. Call of Duty is one $60 game with two or three $15 DLC packs a year. WoW gets $15 out of millions of people a month, plus whatever expansions they release and whatever pets are purchased.

CoD. There's a reason so many people are trying to copy it.

I'm going with World of Warcraft, it's big enough to be its own thing. Call of Duty and Mario are both right up there too. Pokemon as well. This topic has a good poll. :P

But I think it's World of Warcraft, constant stream of money with a huge userbase.

it's obviously call of duty, sadly.

theuncharted34

No idea. Just to say something I would say CoD or WoW. It would be interesting if there is a way to actually find out.

1st. COD

2nd. Pokemon

3rd. IDK, Maybe WoW?

4. Guild Wars :) xD

Mario & Pokemon for the long term. COD & WOW for short.

Mario & Pokemon for the long term. COD & WOW for short.

shutdown_202

WoW crushes everything. Not even close. 15 million people paying roughly $13 a month. Thats like 2 billion a year.

Add in the actual cost of the game plus all the micro transactions and it's not even close.

Mario. NSMBW: 25m+ and counting, plus being the highest selling franchise ever.

Mario & Pokemon for the long term. COD & WOW for short.

I'm thinking the Mario franchise.

WoW crushes everything. Not even close. 15 million people paying roughly $13 a month. Thats like 2 billion a year.

Add in the actual cost of the game plus all the micro transactions and it's not even close.

i5750at4Ghz

I'd say Call of Duty and World of Warcraft

Followed by Grand Theft Auto, Mario, Gran Turismo, Halo, Pokemon and Assassin's Creed

[QUOTE="shutdown_202"]

Mario & Pokemon for the long term. COD & WOW for short.

kweeni

Mario in 20 years will still sell 20-30 million. WoW wont have a single subscriber in 20 years. The problem is its a franchise comparing to a single game. If TC had put Warcraft instead of WoW, id say long term too.

Mario & Pokemon for the long term. COD & WOW for short.

shutdown_202

madden!

I'm pretty certain it's World of Warcraft

I say this given the fact that there was an article sometime ago mentioning that Activision made 70% of their revenue/profit (one of these) from the PC.

And when you consider Activision is a tumor leaching off Blizzard's success it's quite clear the majority of Activision's money comes from Blizzard franchises which is dominated by WoW.

But you can't really say for sure how successful every franchise is.

Microsoft says the majority of their Halo profit comes from non-game merchandise. Nintendo never releases those "We made such and such money on this" types of statements, but just looking at how Nintendo shot to the 2nd largest Japanese company this gen (though I don't know if they've maintained that success) you can easily tell Pokemon, Mario, and the Wii series are potentially the biggest money-makers in the industry.

If I had to take a guess I'd say something like:

1. World of Warcraft
2. Super Mario
3. The Wii Series
4. Pokemon
5. Call of Duty
6. Halo
7. The Sims
8. Assassin's Creed
9. Fifa
10. Madden

It's so very obviously WoW, and it isn't even close.

The game + all of expansions is over $100. Monthly fee. People pay for things like transfers, renames, PETS....

If I had to take a guess I'd say something like:

1. World of Warcraft
2. Super Mario
3. The Wii Series
4. Pokemon
5. Call of Duty
6. Halo
7. The Sims
8. Assassin's Creed
9. Fifa
10. Madden

treedoor

Replace Assassin's Creed with something like Final Fantasy or maybe even GTA or something else. Everything else seems to make sense.

[QUOTE="treedoor"]

If I had to take a guess I'd say something like:

1. World of Warcraft
2. Super Mario
3. The Wii Series
4. Pokemon
5. Call of Duty
6. Halo
7. The Sims
8. Assassin's Creed
9. Fifa
10. Madden

glez13

Replace Assassin's Creed with something like Final Fantasy or maybe even GTA or something else. Everything else seems to make sense.

My reasoning for choosing AC over either of those other franchises would be that AC comes out more often, and, at least for AC2, and and AC:B, Ubisoft reported making over a billion dollars from each game.

Final Fantasy doesn't bring in those numbers, and GTA, while being a big seller, is not coming out as often as AC.

unfortunately its CoD...which i hate due to the fact that every game/dev/publisher is trying to emulate it as a game and a business model

icyseanfitz

COD, damnit.

WoW makes over 100 million a month

Im going with WoW. 15$ x 11million users = $165,000,000 in one month. $165,000,000 x 12 months = $1,980,000,000 a year. Thats alot of money.

Including all content (not just games), still probable pokemon.

If just games, COD, or WoW if maintance is not that high.

Im going with WoW. 15$ x 11million users = $165,000,000 in one month. $165,000,000 x 12 months = $1,980,000,000 a year. Thats alot of money.

Gibsonsg527

Over half of their subscriber base is in China, and they don't pay by the month.

Warcraft and /thread.

Unfortunately it is Call of Crappy.

[QUOTE="icyseanfitz"]

unfortunately its CoD...which i hate due to the fact that every game/dev/publisher is trying to emulate it as a game and a business model

tomarlyn