An anonymous buyer just bought an unopened copy of Super Mario Bros. for $2 million

Before the previous record-breaking sale happened, a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was the most expensive video game ever sold. It fetched around $870,000 at an auction. Now, because of the most recent purchase, two Mario games now hold the top spots as the most expensive video games ever sold.

The one thing that stands out the most about this record-breaking sale is that it did not sell at an auction.

Before we discuss that, let's talk about how multiple copies of vintage games have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2020 and 2021. At this point last year, the most expensive game ever sold was a copy of Super Mario Bros. for $114,000. It's the same game as the aforementioned record-breaking game. The only difference is that this one was in much better condition, as it had never even been opened.

Now, for the most interesting part. Most vintage games are sold for high amounts at auctions. This one didn't. Instead, the $2 million Super Mario Bros. copy was sold by Rally. The video game collectibles website turns video game collectibles into small companies. These companies then have shares that investors can buy. After which, the same investors control and approve the sale of the concerned collectible.

Rally reportedly bought the copy of Super Mario Bros. for $140,000 last April. Just a couple of months later, shareholders approved its record-breaking sale of $2 million to an anonymous buyer. This is a nice profit for a game that's almost as old as the gaming industry itself.

Now, only time will tell if this record can hold up for more than a few months.