How many copies did Mass Effect sell?

The Mass Effect series had sold more than 25 million copies by 2018, according to BioWare’s former director of global brand management, Jarrett Lee (3DNews). EA last gave an official number in July 2014, when the original trilogy had passed 14 million. In May 2021, Mass Effect Legendary Edition hit 59,650 players at once on Steam (Steam Charts), and EA said its sales were well above expectations (VGC).

Mass Effect key stats

The Mass Effect series had sold over 25 million copies by 2018.

• 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.

• 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 (May 2021) sold well above EA’s expectations (VGC) and peaked at 59,650 players at once on Steam that month (Steam Charts).
• 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.

Mass Effect user stats

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

• 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.

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

• 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.

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

• 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.