The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has measured the multiplicity of primary charged particles as a function of centrality and pseudorapidity in Au+Au collisions at (square root)(s{sub NN}) = 19.6, 130 and 200 GeV. Two observations indicate universal behavior of charged particle production in heavy ion collisions. The first is that forward particle production, over a range of energies, follows a universal limiting curve with a non-trivial centrality dependence. The second arises from comparisons with pp/{bar p}p and ee− data. N{sub ch}/N{sub part}/2 in nuclear collisions at high energy scales with (square root)s in a similar way as N{sub ch} in ee− collisions and has a very weak centrality dependence. These features may be related to a reduction in the leading particle effect due to the multiple collisions suffered per participant in heavy ion collisions.