Sony’s PlayStation 2 turned 25 years old this week. I’m sorry if you suddenly feel very old. But don’t worry, I feel old, too! Anyway, to celebrate the milestone, Circana senior director Mat Piscatella shared some data about the console, including its best-selling games as well as the home console’s most-purchased accessory.
On October 26, 2000, Sony launched the PS2 in North America, and it quickly became one of the most successful video game console releases in history. In the United States alone, the console would go on to sell over 45 million units, and globally it has shipped 160 million, making it the best-selling console ever. (Though the Nintendo Switch will likely overtake it in the near future.) Over the course of the console’s lifecycle, thousands of PlayStation 2 games were released for it. Not all of them were great, but the machine does still indeed boast one of the best console game libraries around.
To celebrate the console’s 25th birthday in America, Piscatella posted some fun stats about the PS2 on social media. Did you know that the 8mb memory card was the PS2’s most sold accessory with a 61-percent attach rate? Overall, 147 million accessories were sold in the United States for the PS2. Wowza. And for those curious, here are the top 20 best-selling PlayStation 2 games of all time based on unit sales.
US Top 20 All-Time Best-Selling PS2 Games (Jan 1999 – Sep 2025)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
- Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
- Madden NFL 2005
- Guitar Hero II
- Madden NFL 2004
- Kingdom Hearts
- Madden NFL 2006
- Madden NFL 2007
- Jampack Series: PlayStation 2
- Madden NFL 2003
- Need for Speed: Underground
- Star Wars: Battlefront II
- Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
- Final Fantasy X
- Gran Turismo 4: The Real Driving Simulator
- God of War
- Medal of Honor: Frontline
While I expected the GTA games to top the chart, I was surprised to see Medal of Honor: Frontline, Final Fantasy X, and God of War crack the list, too. Also, wow, EA really was a force to be reckoned with back then, huh? What a different time for video games. Then again, GTA leading the pack hasn’t changed much in 2025, so I guess the more things change…
