We recently reported that the PlayStation 4 became the second best-selling console on the market, selling more than 102 million units worldwide since its launch back in November of 2013, but Take-Two has a number to beat that. Grand Theft Auto V sales have reached more than 115 million units worldwide across all platforms since its initial release back in September 2013. Even considering both the current-gen upgrade that the game got, along with the PC version, that is a staggering number for a game that continues to sell well despite being more than six years old.
In fact, at last check-in, GTAV had reached 110 million back in May of this year, which means Rockstar managed to move 5 million additional copies of its game just in the last six months. Most developers would be thrilled to hit that number in total lifetime sales, let alone in a six month period a half-decade after their game released.
Using other Take-Two games as reference points, Borderlands 3 saw 5 million in sales within five days of launch (currently at 7 million total sold), and Red Dead Redemption 2 sales sit at 26.5 million after launching one year ago. While impressive, those still are barely a fraction of the numbers boasted by Grand Theft Auto V, a game that continues to top the charts month after month and year after year.
Revenue isn’t just driven by Grand Theft Auto V sales, however. The game includes Grand Theft Auto Online, a huge live-service experience that brings ongoing revenue via microtransactions, a good chunk of the reported 74% net revenue increase for Q2 that Take-Two reported year over year. Gamesindustry.biz reports that digitally delivered net bookings for Q2 were up 63% year over year to $695 million, and that digital made up 73% of the company’s total $950 million net bookings in Q2.
Speaking with Gamesindustry about the milestone, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, “I think as the install base grows, if you’re over the age of 17, it’s a must-have title.” He wants people to remember that Grand Theft Auto V was originally a title designed for last-gen, and this generation’s version is an updated experience. “And it’s pretty amazing that a title originally developed for last generation remains the standard-bearer for quality more than six years later.”
Zelnick also had some words as developers head into an unknown era of live-service games, something that Ubisoft struggled with on Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Blizzard is trying to solve with Overwatch 2. “There’s no rulebook around how you create transitions or new products in a world of live services. And I think we have to be mindful of what the consumer wants, and what our developers have in mind, and we will find a path forward that makes sense to whatever project we take on.”
To put that 115 million Grand Theft Auto V sales into a bit more perspective, we recently reported that The Last of Us sold 20 million units across the PS3 and PS4 and Uncharted 4 reached 16 million. These are both highly marketed massive AAA titles, and though platform exclusive, still don’t land anywhere close to GTAV monumental sales numbers. At this point, it seems like the only thing that could possibly topple GTAV is the eventual Grand Theft Auto 6.
[Source: Gamesindustry.biz]
