The Best Video Game Franchises Born in Europe

It is often believed that not only technology in general, but specifically the video game industry as well, is dominated exclusively by the regions of North America and Asia. Although the Old Continent is mentioned less often in these discussions, Europe is in fact the birthplace of a significant proportion of the video games most beloved by players. Read on to learn more about video game series that originated in Europe.

Grand Theft Auto

This may come as a surprise to many, but yes—our continent is home not only to CasinoGuru and other exciting gaming sites, but also to one of the world’s most profitable and famous open-world video game series: Grand Theft Auto, which originally originated in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the time, the game developer known as DMA Design—which is now the Rockstar North division of the American company Rockstar Games—was based in the United Kingdom, and it created the very first Grand Theft Auto game, released in November 1997.

Although the publisher of the subsequent Grand Theft Auto games, Rockstar Games, is based in the United States—specifically in New York—the company’s founders, brothers Dan and Sam Houser, are also from the United Kingdom. In addition, the subsequent Grand Theft Auto games were primarily developed by Rockstar North, which is still based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

A British touch can be felt in this video game franchise’s unique style and themes even though the stories of almost all Grand Theft Auto games take place in the United States. There is one exception, however: Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 was released in 1997 and is set in the British capital. It is not only the sole occasion on which a Grand Theft Auto game is set outside the United States, but also the only one not set in a fictional location, albeit one inspired by real cities. Ironically, this game set in London was not developed by the British Rockstar North, but by the Canada-based Rockstar Canada.

The Grand Theft Auto video game series is undoubtedly one of the United Kingdom’s most significant exports of all time. Over 28 years, it has become one of the most profitable products in the video game industry, selling more than 440 million copies.

The Witcher

While The Witcher’s European origins might surprise someone unfamiliar with them, players are likely to have serious suspicions about the legendary fantasy game series: it is set on a fictional continent conspicuously based on the regions of Central and Northern Europe in the 13th century. And for good reason—the source of inspiration for The Witcher franchise and its developer are both from Poland. 

In 1994, the video game developer CD Projekt Red, founded by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński, began operating as a distributor and translator of foreign games for the local market. However, in 2002, the company began creating its own games, and the first The Witcher game was released in October 2007. This famous video game franchise was based on a series of fantasy novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Like the source novels, these games draw heavily on Slavic folklore.

In 2015, the third installment in The Witcher video game franchise, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, was released. It was the first game in the trilogy to also be available on PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The game achieved enormous critical and commercial success, becoming one of the most profitable games of all time. This success finally brought truly international attention to The Witcher game franchise and its Polish developer. In addition, it raised the prestige of Poland’s video game industry to unprecedented heights, encouraging its further development and eventually leading to feature-film and television-series adaptations.

Assassin’s Creed

Video game developer Ubisoft has been operating for almost 40 years—the five sons of the Guillemot family founded it in March 1986 in Saint-Mandé, France. Although the French company has successfully released many different video game franchises, Assassin’s Creed became its most famous series, with the first game released in 2007.

Each new game in the Assassin’s Creed series takes place during a real historical period and historical events, but features a fictional story usually based on the centuries-long struggle between an order of assassins and the Templars. Over 18 years, 14 games have already been released in this video game franchise, the latest in 2025. Seven of them are set wholly or partly on the Old Continent and during historical European events.

The success of this video game franchise, which has sold more than 155 million copies worldwide, had an unprecedented impact on video game sales and confidence in the market as a whole. In the long term, it has opened up new opportunities not only for Ubisoft itself, but also for smaller game studios and developers in France and throughout Europe.

Hitman

Shortly before the turn of the century, in 1998, Denmark’s video game developer IO Interactive A/S was founded in the capital, Copenhagen. The Danish company worked on concepts for various projects until it set its sights on creating a game inspired by the classic action films of Hong Kong director John Woo, while also drawing heavily on European culture and cinematic traditions. The final result, Hitman: Codename 47, was released in 2000.

This game launched a highly successful video game franchise that has received six more installments over more than 20 years, bringing its creators even greater success. Each game follows the contract killer Agent 47 as he undertakes missions in various corners of the world. The game is particularly famous for allowing players to control how the ultimate objective is achieved—for example, by carrying out a contract discreetly or, to put it mildly, in a more public manner.

By making Denmark’s video game industry an attractive career choice for many, IO Interactive itself has also continued to grow. From its original seven employees in Copenhagen, it now has more than 200, with new branches in Malmö, Sweden; Barcelona, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; and Brighton, the United Kingdom. Interestingly, the success of this Danish company led to it acquiring the rights to develop its next project: an original-story video game based on the novels and films featuring the legendary British pop-culture hero, Agent James Bond.