Best Video game franchises

The Legend of Zelda wins 80% of its duels and tops the Video game franchises ranking ahead of Pokémon.

Pokémon holds second place with 1434 ELO points, but a steep 50-point gap separates it from Grand Theft Auto at rank 3. This drop marks the sharpest divide in the upper reaches of the ranking, suggesting that while Pokémon commands broad appeal, Grand Theft Auto occupies a distinct tier below the top two. Red Dead follows at rank 4 with 1366 ELO points, and Super Smash Bros rounds out the top 5 at 1349 points. At the opposite end, Oddworld sits at rank 74 with 981 ELO points and a 20% win rate over 61 duels. Trine and Killzone occupy ranks 73 and 72 respectively, both struggling to gain traction among voters. The lower ranks reflect franchises that either failed to capture mainstream attention or have dwindled in relevance over time.

This ranking draws from 2525 duels recorded by 10 players across 74 contenders, updated on 12 October 2026. The volume of votes offers a solid picture of how these franchises stack up in the eyes of the gaming community, though the relatively small player base means individual preferences carry weight. Head over to VAINKEURZ to cast your own votes and reshape the standings. Every duel shifts the balance, and your picks could elevate a dark horse or cement a favorite at the top.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →