Grand Theft Auto V was always going to be huge but now it's just humiliating the competition left and right. The game now broke 90 million copies sold, 15 million of which in 2017, which is pretty impressive for a game that launched in 2013 and even more impressive once you see the kind of titles it left in the dust.
Publisher Take-Two pegging GTA V as third best selling game in the US and sixth best in terms of revenues. GTA V and its in game content remain the biggest contributor to Take-Two’s revenue, outperforming the likes of NBA 2K18, which NPD says is the second best selling game in the US.
The scope of importance of GTA V's results has been heavily underlined by Take Two, pointing out they expect similar results in the following year as well. Take-Two pointed out that GTA: Online has led to the game enjoying unparalleled longevity. Indeed, in game recurrent spending has increased by as much as 44 percent year over year, a truly impressive feat for what’s in digital terms an aging game.
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Note however that NPD's title sales are somewhat flawed due to missing data, prompting exclusion of titles such as PUBG or omission of digital sales for Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Still, GTA V has made NPD's top 10 list for the sixth year in the row, so the magnitude of the game is clear to see. Additionally, the controversy around Star Wars: Battlefront II and the impressive consistency of GTA V made the latter breathe down the former's neck in terms of results.
Take-Two is living the dream at the moment and the future seems even better, with Red Dead Redemption 2 launch slated for 02 October. The company expects as much as $2.5 billion in revenues but we're somehow sure GTA V will still be making headlines by that time.
