Back in 2021, a copy of Super Mario Bros. made headlines selling for $2 million, which broke the record for the most expensive video game ever sold. Now, that record has been broken by the highest-graded copy of Super Mario Bros. On June 12, the highest-graded copy of the earliest sealed edition of Super Mario Bros. sold for $3 million at the June 12-13 Video Game Signature Auction.
A historic record in the gaming world
A sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. sold at auction for $3 million, becoming the most expensive video game ever sold.
The 1986 version was recently discovered inside an unopened NES box that had remained sealed for nearly 40 years. pic.twitter.com/PdWaAAh6Tt
— DigitaleAnimeEN (@DigitaleAnimeEN) June 16, 2026
This is the earliest confirmed sealed copy of Super Mario Bros. complete with the gloss sticker that was adopted in early 1986. This is one of only three known sealed copies from this second production run which is a variant that has never appeared in a public auction in sealed condition.
In total, the June 12-13 Video Game Signature Auction brought in a total of $5,047, 669. Classic Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges were heavily represented. Another early Super Mario Bros. copy was the second biggest price of the auction, selling for $575,000. It is one of just two PSA 9.8 examples of the fourth-print production, which is identifiable by its hangtab for retail display.
The third to reach at least six digits was a PSA 9.6+ copy of The Legend of Zelda, selling for $375,000. Its rating makes it the highest-graded first production copy ever offered at public auction.
“Like any collectible, be it Trading Cards, Comics or Video Games, collectors place a premium on condition and print run,” says Evan Masingill, Heritage Auctions’ Consignment Director for Video Games. “Being the best, earliest copy of Super Mario Bros., it represents the peak of all video game collectibles. This test market copy predates the NES’s nationwide launch. Given the extreme rarity and what this game represents, it doesn’t surprise me that this copy has become the world’s most valuable video game.”