A copy of Super Mario Bros. has sold for a record-breaking $3 million, making it the most expensive video game of all time.
Dallas-based Heritage Auctions says the title surpassed the previous $1.56 million record set in a 2021 private sale.
Bearing the coveted gloss sticker adopted in early 1986, it is the earliest confirmed sealed copy of one of the most important game cartridges in history.
It is one of only three known sealed copies from this second production run — a variant that has never appeared at public auction in sealed condition.
Of the three known sealed copies, the game is described by Heritage Auctions as the finest, with a “PSA 9.6 A++” grade.
Evan Masingill, Heritage’s Consignment Director for Video Games, said of the sale on Friday (12/6): “It is only appropriate that the most significant video game in the world should bring the most impressive result in the history of the hobby.”
“The remarkable back story — it was just discovered a few months ago inside a brand-new Control Deck NES console bundle, meaning it has not been touched for nearly 40 years — makes the result even more impressive.”
Also included in the lot is the launch edition NES Control Deck console with which this copy of Super Mario Bros. was originally bundled.
The previous record for most expensive video game of all time belonged to a sealed copy of Super Mario 64 that sold for $1.56 million at auction in 2021.