Electronic Arts

How many copies did Mass Effect sell? — 2024 statistics

The numerical side of intergalactic diplomacy and warfare.

Fact-checked
First Released
November 20, 2007
Genre
Military sci-fi
Developer
BioWare
Publisher
Electronic Arts

In discussions about iconic sci-fi games, the Mass Effect series invariably earns a mention. Since its inception in 2007, the series has maintained a monumental footprint in the gaming arena, with the Mass Effect sales figures bearing testimony to its sustained appeal among the community. Across its journey, the series has been lauded, critiqued, and everything in between. As we delve into the Mass Effect statistics, we’ll explore the franchise’s current standing and potential trajectory, encompassing forthcoming titles and new content. If you’re a fan of gaming and want the latest scoops, check out what we have to say about the size of the video game industry!

Mass Effect key stats

We’ll dive deep into the Mass Effect sales and other key statistics that highlight the journey of the Mass Effect franchise since its inception. Often hailed as one of the pioneering sci-fi game series, Mass Effect has set a benchmark in the sci-fi gaming genre. Its captivating universe and compelling gameplay have garnered a massive fanbase. Let’s take a closer look at what the numbers reveal about this iconic series.

The Mass Effect sales reveal that the series has sold over 20 million copies.

(Sources: VG Chartz, GameRant)

  • The original Mass Effect sold 2 million copies.
  • Mass Effect 2 sold 5 million copies.
  • Mass Effect 3 sold 7 million copies.
  • Mass Effect Andromeda sold 5 million copies.

While Mass Effect might not match the astronomic sales of game franchises such as Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, or Need for Speed, its sales figures nonetheless affirm its colossal presence within the military sci-fi genre. Mass Effect 3 stands out as the most popular title in the series in terms of sales, yet when examining the Mass Effect Andromeda sales, alongside other sequels, they all seem to echo a similar success rate, showcasing a relatively consistent hype and reception across the franchise, with the exception of the original game.

Mass Effect 3 sales made $200 million in revenue.

(Sources: MoneyInc, Destructoid, Eurogamer, PC Gamer, TechTimes)

  • Mass Effect 3 sold twice the number of copies as Mass Effect 2 did in its first month.
  • Mass Effect Andromeda was a financial success, stated as being a driving factor in BioWare’s revenue.
  • Mass Effect legendary Edition was also a success and sold better than EA had expected.
  • The $92.3 million that the Mass Effect franchise is worth is regarding total sales of games as well as other media and merchandise, but even without that, the series has still raked in a tremendous amount of profit.

It is hard to find accurate data on the total games sold and total revenue for various companies because they do not have an obligation to reveal that sort of information, so we’re left to rely on speculation and calculations to gauge how successful the series is. In the case of Mass Effect, it is more than apparent that the most popular title is Mass Effect 3, which accumulated over $200 million in sales when it came out.

Mass Effect user stats

This section is going to take a look at some of the accomplishments that the Mass Effect community has made throughout some of the games. With millions of players and even more things to do, there are a lot of numbers to go through. Since the Mass Effect series is essentially an ARPG series, there are a lot of choices that players can make, and the different choices that players have made across all of the games are quite interesting.

68% of Mass Effect Legendary Edition players chose the male version of Shepard.

(Source: IGN)

  • 40% of players chose the Soldier military specialization.
  • 21% of players chose the Vanguard military specialization.
  • 15% of players chose the Infiltrator military specialization.
  • 11% of players chose the Adept military specialization.
  • 8% of players chose the Sentinel military specialization.
  • 5% of players chose the Engineer military specialization.
  • 52% of players chose the Earthborn pre-service history.
  • 44% of players chose the Survivor psychological profile.
  • 60% of players rescued Ashley on Virmire.
  • 94% of players made sure that Wrex survived the Virmire mission.
  • 93% of players saved the Rachni Queen.
  • 67% of players killed the Reaper Breeder Queen.
  • 96% of players cured the Genophage.
  • 96% of players pardoned Tali.
  • 68% of players answered the reporter’s questions by punching her in the face.

There are, noticeably, no total gameplay numbers for this information, but all of the numbers are regarding the choices that you can make. Right off the bat, we can see that fans clearly prefer the male version of Shepard to the female one, which is interesting because Commander Shepard is canonically neither male nor female and they are what you choose. All of the other statistics are fun to look through and compare to the next line of stats!

Mass Effect 3 players put 88.3 million hours of playtime in the game.

(Source: Digital Spy)

  • 8% of players did not cure the Genophage.
  • 64% of players did not meet Wrex during the campaign.
  • 37.6% of players achieved 100% galactic readiness.
  • 4% of players completed a playthrough on the Insanity difficulty.
  • 39.8% of players earned a Long Service Medal.
  • Liara was the most popular squad member at 24.1%.
  • Vegs had the highest survival rate at 82%.
  • 82% of players chose to play as the male Shepard.
  • 27% of players chose to save the Quarians.
  • 37% of players chose to save the Geth.
  • 36% of players chose to save both.
  • 3.8% of players shot Mordin.
  • 58% of players let Garrus win the shootout at the Citadel.
  • 10.7 billion enemies were killed in Multiplayer.
  • The most-used single-player class was the Soldier with a 43.7% pick rate.
  • 64.5% of players chose to play on the side of Renegade.

Here, we can actually see the total number of hours played on Mass Effect 3, and they are fairly impressive. Of course, the real number is much higher since this is the number of hours that players have logged in a specific, unknown period. Other than that, the percentages are fascinating because some of them are in direct contrast with the previous line, even though some of the choices are the same.

The Mass Effect series had over 4 million hours watched on Twitch in 2022.

(Source: SullyGnome)

  • Mass Effect Legendary Edition has the most hours watched at 2.9 million.
  • The least-watched game is Mass Effect 3 at 193,981.
  • The entire series had 515,000 broadcasting hours in 2022.
  • There were 325 viewers watching Mass Effect Legendary Edition on average.

The last line of stats we have for you is just some general information about how the Mass Effect series performed over 2022, and the results are pretty much what you would expect them to be, with Mass Effect Legendary Edition performing the best. This is expected because this edition of the games includes the trilogy so people do not have a need to watch individual games when they can have the full package. Nevertheless, the series has accumulated a relatively decent amount of hours watched, although it pales in comparison with newer games.

To sum up

And this is where our spacewalk into the Mass Effect world ends… at least until the new one comes out. It’s fascinating to see a series like Mass Effect establish itself in such a solid way as it did, and the traction that it has had in the gaming community is incredible. fans have stuck with the series through thick and thin, through controversy and success, and we are sure that they are going to swarm Mass Effect 5 whenever it comes out. We are happy to be able to provide you with this information and we hope that you are happy with what we had to say!

Sources

  • “Mass Effect: A Sales History – News”. VG Chartz, 2012, https://www.vgchartz.com/article/250066/mass-effect-a-sales-history/
  • “The Highest-Selling Games Developed By BioWare Ranked (& How Much They Sold)”. GameRant, 2021, https://gamerant.com/highest-selling-games-developed-bioware-ranked-how-much-sold/
  • “How Much is the Mass Effect Video Game Franchise Worth?”. Money Inc, 2020, https://moneyinc.com/how-much-is-the-mass-effect-video-game-franchise-worth/
  • “Mass Effect 3 makes over $200 million in sales”. Destructoid, 2012, https://www.destructoid.com/mass-effect-3-makes-over-200-million-in-sales/
  • “Opening month US Mass Effect 3 sales double ME2’s”. Eurogamer, 2012, https://www.eurogamer.net/opening-month-us-mass-effect-3-sales-double-mass-effect-2s
  • “Mass Effect: Andromeda was a financial success”. PCGamesN, 2017, https://www.pcgamesn.com/mass-effect-andromeda/mass-effect-andromeda-sales-numbers
  • “‘Mass Effect Legendary Edition’ Sold Better Than EA Expected– Here’s Why”. Tech Times, 2021, https://www.techtimes.com/articles/263848/20210806/mass-effect-legendary-edition-sold-well-heres-why.htm
  • “‘Mass Effect 3’ infographic reveals series statistics”. Digital Spy, 2013, https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/mass-effect/a468372/mass-effect-3-infographic-reveals-series-statistics/
  • “Happy N7 Day 2021!”. BioWare, 2021, https://blog.bioware.com/2021/11/07/happy-n7-day-2021/
  • “Mass Effect”. SullyGnome, 2023, https://sullygnome.com/game/Mass_Effect/365/summary
  • “Mass Effect 2”. SullyGnome, 2023, https://sullygnome.com/game/Mass_Effect_2/365/summary
  • “Mass Effect 3”. SullyGnome, 2023, https://sullygnome.com/game/Mass_Effect_3/365/summary
  • “Mass Effect Legendary Edition”. SullyGnome, 2023, https://sullygnome.com/game/Mass_Effect_Legendary_Edition/365/summary
  • “Mass Effect: Andromeda”. SullyGnome, 2023, https://sullygnome.com/game/Untitled_Mass_Effect_Game/365/summary