The Best-Selling PS2 Games That Made It A Legendary Console

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Summary

  • Top-selling PS2 games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec sold over $14M each.
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty sold over 7 million copies, showing how popular the series was on PS2.
  • Final Fantasy 10 sold over $8M and became a hit thanks to its tropical setting and gripping story.

The PlayStation 2, or PS2, came out in 2000 and quickly became a hit. While the games available at launch weren’t groundbreaking, the PS2’s DVD player was a neat feature, as DVDs were still relatively new at the time. The console remained popular for about six years, until the PlayStation 3 was released in 2006.

The PlayStation 2 became incredibly popular thanks to a huge number of successful games. Titles like *Kingdom Hearts*, *God of War*, and *Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy* were among the twenty best-selling games of all time on the console. But what other games rounded out the top eight? This information comes from sources like the Guinness Book of World Records and other reliable data.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

Two Heroes, One Solid Stealth Game

  • Copies Sold: Over 7M

Released in 2001, *Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty* was highly anticipated and sold over 7 million copies. It also pushed the boundaries of what Sony’s console could do, making it a must-have game for many players – even those unfamiliar with the series – as it was a title everyone wanted to show off.

The boat sequence in Solid Snake’s mission featured some remarkable water effects, and the Plant area offered players many creative ways to eliminate guards. *Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater* was a commercial success, ranking 20th in sales, making it one of two fantastic, well-selling games on the PlayStation 2.

Final Fantasy 10

Awkward Laughs, Great RPG

  • Copies Sold: Over 8M

Released in 2001, *Final Fantasy 10* was a major success for the series, selling over 8 million copies. It was groundbreaking for the franchise as the first main installment to feature voice acting-and it used a lot of it! With its beautiful tropical setting, the game still looks great today, even after all these years.

What really drew players in was the story, even if they didn’t always love the main character, Tidus. The *Final Fantasy* series performed strongly on the PS2, with *Final Fantasy 12* landing in 9th place and *Final Fantasy 10-2* in 11th.

Tekken 5

Fighting Perfection

  • Copies Sold: Over 9M

As a huge Tekken fan, I remember when Tekken 5 came out! It was a massive hit, selling over 9 million copies, and it was the third Tekken game on the PlayStation 2. It was special because it was the last one released before the series moved to the PS3. Speaking of older games, Tekken 4 actually did pretty well too, landing at number 15 on a recent list. Honestly, the Tekken series has *always* been popular on PlayStation!

Tekken 5 delivered exactly what fans hoped for in a new installment, offering a wide variety of characters and surprisingly quirky endings. While it might not be considered the very best Tekken game today, it was undeniably a massive hit on the PlayStation 2.

Grand Theft Auto 3

The First Of Many

  • Copies Sold: Over 11M

It’s no surprise to see *Grand Theft Auto 3* on this list. It was a game-changer, selling over 11 million copies on the PlayStation 2. It brought the series into 3D and gave players a much larger and more detailed world to explore in Liberty City compared to earlier games.

Grand Theft Auto 3 was packed with exciting missions, a huge variety of vehicles to steal, hidden secrets to find, and plenty of opportunities for players to create mayhem. It’s no surprise that it’s considered one of the most influential PlayStation 2 games ever made – and a landmark title in gaming history.

Gran Turismo 4

From Prologue To Full Game

  • Copies Sold: Over 11.5M

Gran Turismo 4 was the third and final game in the series for the PlayStation 2, selling over 11.5 million copies. Before its release, a preview version called Gran Turismo 4 Prologue came out. Although the release order was a bit unusual, Gran Turismo 4 was considered the ultimate racing experience on the PS2.

The Gran Turismo series has come a long way technologically since its PlayStation 2 origins, but the cars in the 2005 version were remarkably stunning. Even now, the series continues to deliver impressive graphics, just as it did in the early 2000s.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Back To The 80s

  • Copies Sold: Over 14M

The next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, came out just a year after Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2002. Set in the fictional Vice City, the game offered a nostalgic 1980s experience and became a huge success, selling over 14 million copies.

One of the biggest leaps forward in the game was giving the main character, Tommy Vercetti, a voice. Ray Liotta, who sadly passed away, brought Tommy to life, and he’s become a beloved character for fans. It will be fascinating to see how Vice City has evolved, considering it’s also the setting for the upcoming *Grand Theft Auto 6*, though that game will be set in the present day.

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

A PS2 Marvel In Technology

  • Copies Sold: Over 14.5M

Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec was a must-have game for almost every PlayStation 2 owner when it came out in 2001, and it marked the beginning of the series on that console. Even if you weren’t usually a racing game fan, the game was incredibly appealing thanks to its impressive graphics – the car models and physics were a huge leap forward from the PlayStation 1, rivaling the visual advancements seen in games like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The cars looked remarkably realistic for their time.

Looking back, the cars in *Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec* don’t hold up visually or handling-wise compared to modern racing games – kind of like *Gran Turismo 4*. But honestly, when it first came out, it was a total game-changer! It was amazing, and people clearly agreed, because it sold over 14.5 million copies!

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Take Back The Streets

  • Copies Sold: Over 17M

For a lot of players, *Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas* remains the best game in the series, having sold over 17 million copies. Released in 2004, it was groundbreaking for its time by letting players freely roam beyond the city of Los Santos – something no other game had done before.

This game was huge, and it really did some crazy things. You didn’t just level up by playing missions – you actually leveled up by *living*! Like, doing push-ups, going for bike rides, even swimming. And it was hilarious because if you just ate burgers all day and skipped the gym, your character would get seriously buff! But honestly, the biggest thing for me was CJ. He just felt…real. A lot of players, myself included, felt like he actually *got* us, which was something I hadn’t really experienced in a game before.

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2025-09-20 10:37