Freya Hilton
Even after more than a decade since its release on outdated consoles, Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to be a massive financial success for Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two. During a Q4 earnings call with investors, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confidently stated that the game has sold around 200 million copies. This indicates that the game has been purchased a staggering 15 million times since August of last year, when the total number of purchases reached an impressive 185 million.
The audience for GTA 5 and GTA Online experienced significant growth over the last financial year, demonstrating a strong increase in popularity. During this period, GTA 5 made its way into popular subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and Sony PS Plus. Regardless of any other factors, the fact that nearly 15 million copies of an 11-year-old game were sold is truly remarkable. In contrast, the immensely popular game of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy, has already sold a staggering 22 million copies by January 2024, just a month after its release in February 2023.
As expected, this generates immense anticipation for GTA 6, set to launch in the fall of 2025 for consoles, followed by a PC version in typical Rockstar fashion.
Zelnick also highlighted the thriving role-playing community in GTA Online as a key factor in the game’s enduring popularity on Twitch.
However, Take-Two is not solely dependent on GTA 5. NBA 2K24 proved to be a remarkable triumph, even in the face of mixed feedback from both critics and players. The complaints primarily revolved around microtransactions, but they undeniably fulfill their intended role: the game “surpassed our expectations as players enthusiastically embraced our promotions, in-game content strategy, and seasonal updates.” This part sold an impressive 9 million copies.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has achieved an impressive milestone, selling a staggering 64 million copies since its highly anticipated release in October 2018.