A ‘holy grail’ sealed copy of 1985 Super Mario Bros. game just sold for $3M

June 16, 2026 - 04:34

A sealed, factory-fresh copy of the 1985 classic Super Mario Bros. has shattered records, selling for a staggering $3 million at auction. This is not just any old cartridge. It is the earliest confirmed sealed copy of what many collectors call "the most important game cartridge in history."

The sale took place through Heritage Auctions, where the game achieved the highest grade ever given to a sealed copy of this title. The cartridge was graded 9.8 out of 10 by the video game grading service Wata. It also came with a rare "hang tab" variant of the box, which was only used during the very first production run of the game.

This specific copy has been described as the "holy grail" for video game collectors. Super Mario Bros. is widely credited with saving the home video game industry after the crash of the early 1980s. It also launched the career of Nintendo's mascot, Mario, and defined the platforming genre for decades to come.

The previous record for a video game sale was also a copy of Super Mario Bros., which sold for $2 million in 2021. That copy was also a sealed, high-grade version, but it was a later production run. The $3 million sale now stands as the highest price ever paid for a single video game.

The buyer has not been identified, but the sale confirms that the market for rare, sealed video games remains incredibly strong. For collectors, owning a piece of gaming history like this is worth a fortune.