There’s a wee bit of numberwang involved in these sales statistics, but stick with us because the figures are eye-opening. So, Rockstar overlord Take-Two has posted its latest financial report, and in it is an update on Grand Theft Auto’s sales performance. The headline is that GTA 5 has now sold 160 million (!!!) copies, taking the franchise as a whole up to 370 million units.
That’s up 15 million units since Take-Two previously reported the number prior to the release of the GTA Trilogy. According to the publisher, five million of the aforementioned 15 million can be attributed to GTA 5, which means the remaining 10 million are almost certainly related to Rockstar’s remasters of its classic PS2 titles.
That’s a huge number, and while not unusual for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, a somewhat surprising one, too. To be fair, boss Strauss Zelnick mentioned recently that the title had “significantly exceeded” expectations, and now it’s easy to see why. Of course, the launch was a bit of a disaster, and despite promises from Rockstar to resolve the situation, it’s still not up to scratch.
Speaking with Games Industry.biz, the executive promised more improvements as part of a brilliant statement which seems to contradict itself consistently: “We have some quality issues. We’ve attempted to address those. We have more coming, and we feel very good about how the title has performed commercially. I think we were all a bit disappointed about the quality initially. We’re very grateful that most of those issues have been addressed. There’s more work to be done.”
Nevertheless, Zelnick and the rest of Take-Two will be rubbing their hands together: a new version of GTA 5 is scheduled to release on the PS5 next month, and is sure to register sales in the many millions all over again. Can this juggernaut ever be stopped? Probably not.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 78
It’s like the X Factor winners’ song of video games. Sells gangbusters despite being rank. We just need the video game equivalent of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name.
Customers are the sole reason for every gaming problem we have.
10.. MILLION?? Did the word not get out to the masses that this release was a massive flarking joke? Or does no one care? Awww, "casual" gamers, bless.
Yep mindless sheep. Same for Activision cod etc,
Steering clear of mega Ms and co.
I wanna talk to these 10 million people. Can I get a tv show?
The Rockstar acolytes who defended this shambles ,(&/or preordered it & couldn't refund it on most console store fronts),despite the missing soundtracks,the at times laughable texture "upgrades" being far worse vs the efforts of the modding community,all the while they shovelled it out as a full price release is sadly why Take-two & Rockstar won't learn a single thing.😕
Imagine the sort of sales they'd have if they'd put the love of the ps2 originals at the time of their release! But no live service mtx opportunities,so let's just zap the older mobile ports for 30 secs in the microwave & add some extra sauce patches if we need to if there's enough blow back!🙄
Absolutely bonkers but not surprised at all…
I’m surprised it sold so well. Grand Theft Auto really is unstoppable. I hope this leads to a remaster of Red Dead Redemption.
So it seems GTAO players are still buying copies for in-game cash, it seems. No other reason GTAV continues to sell so well this far out.
Rockstar could release GTA 1 and 2 in a bundle, call it a remaster and slap a $60 price tag on it and I can guarantee it'll hit 1 million sales within three months.
The masses showing their sheep side again.
And this is why companies feel justified releasing broken s**t.
@Rural-Bandit hahaha. Me insulting players and you talking about controllers.
Just goes to show that even half-arrsed, borderline broken MOBILE PORTS will drive the masses to gobble it up. I would say Take 2 are laughing all the way to the bank but they straight own the bank at this point; there's not farther up they can go.
GTA V about to be the best selling game on ps3, ps4, and now ps5.
Stupid fanboys will buy anything. What a bunch of suckers
This sheep had a lot of fun playing 3 and vice city with his psnow subscription.
Damn yous! All 10 millions of yous! U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A-B-A-C-A-B-B! May you be cursed with lag, during key moments of gaming!
@Rural-Bandit Nah. Every episode will be about controllers.
I'm one of those dopes who bought it for a nostalgia kick. After several hours playing I regretted it. Probably the worst full price game I've ever spent my money on. Still bitter, and finding out how much money they've made fills me with rage haha
@Rural-Bandit
Interrupts the presentation of the controller and grabs the camera
Why did you buy a broken game 10 million times people??!!!
To be fair a bunch of those sales were probably bought on day 1 before finding out it was made by a mobile studio who can't port PS2 games.
Goes to show that we truly are the vocal minority. This is why I can say with confidence that NFTs are going to succeed just like big publishers hope they will.
I wonder how many of those sales are PS Now and gamepass rentals? Unfortunately probably not enough, they can clearly get away with and make boatloads of money with this kind of shoddy release.
the people have spoken. they enjoy broken games and want more! thanks for making the gaming industry what it is guys!
This is proof that the majority does not give a damn about the minority and capitalism is gonna take full advantage of that.
Something tells me these numbers are at least somewhat wrong. Had the remastered collection sold that well, it would have made a bigger splash on the charts, I think.
Just goes to show you how dumb and uninformed the average customer is. A shoddy product like this ends up selling 10 + million copies. This will tell Rockstar that they can get away with this garbage again in the future. Zero accountability.
Think about this another way. Imagine if that was the first GTA or Rockstar game you bought. You most likely wouldn't buy another.
Once bitten, twice shy so to say.
And if I was Zelnick I'd keep my gob shut
@nessisonett like it...but i think sleep now in the fire is more apt..
Are you sure this is 10 million cash sales, and not a good proportion being game pass/PS Now downloads counted as 'sales'?
@Ashpip if only it worked that way. People buy games they don't like all the time. Then they complain about them and then they buy the next one. And it goes on and on for such a large number of people. They never learn. As long as their friends have it and it's considered a cool game to own/play, they'll get it. Quality means nothing these days.
A good reminder to anyone who is under the false impression that the comments they read online are indicative of what the average gamer thinks or cares about.
Thankfully one game i didnt gey hyped in to buying... Actually 2. Cyberpunk was the 2nd. 2 lucky escapes id say.
At this point I'm actually surprised they are even bothering developing a new game in the series.
Although the probably know fine we'll they can just "enhance" that every few years to keep the money coming in, along with a MTX ladden online mode it will keep them going for years.
I made the mistake of buying the trilogy on release day, that was disappointing, I should have waited for reviews, I have touched the games for a few months now, I'm gonna wait until they're patched and working better than before.
Lol God people are idiots. 😆
Idiots and preorders
Jeeez, some of you guys in here are full of yourselves 😂 The Gta remaster could have been better, but the games are in no way broken. Did you guys even read the reviews? Glitches and unpolished is not the same as broken. Did some of the atmosphere get lost in the remaster? Yes. But does it play better? Totally.
@havoc33 I agree. I waited for the physical release and a price drop and I've really enjoyed it. The improvements they've made far outweigh the glitches etc. In fact, I haven't experienced any issues while playing due to it being patched to high heaven since launch.
Everyone loves GTA. Soon there will be more copies of GTA than people.
Let me guess, sold most on PS?
Yup, pretty solid proof that most gamers/consumers don't read gaming news.
If you are reading this, you are probably more interested in gaming than 99% of the population.
Why though??It was the only GTA I have ever been disappointed with when I bought it on the ..Xbox360.
Mext big news in 2022: sony bought T2 for 70b
They keep going as long as customers buy whatever they release, great or rubbish. And that's whay game pass models will rule in near future when customers want something to play, not necessarily quality products.
I definitely can't say I'm shocked. GTA is literally untouchable. Same with COD, Madden, Fifa etcetera. The masses simply do not care what word of mouth is for some games. They will see the logo for the series they like and just buy it with no research.
For a while I was the same with Assassins Creed back in the PS3 into early PS4 era. Everybody's got that comfort food they love to eat even if you know it's not good for you!
@BeerIsAwesome it's the same thing for ubisoft games, everyone on reddit seems to hate them but they still sell better than their predecessors.
After all those negative reviews, the average people still buy that s**t in millions! And us in these websites discuss whether 7/10 for drying light 2 justifies the buy or not! Maybe those big companies laugh at us and game reviews, and just are happy with the ignorance of the average guys.
@2here2there the GTA Trilogy got a 5/10 on here, and averaged a 55/100.
Dying Light 2 got a 7/10 here and averaged just below 80/100.
It's not that GTA got negative reviews and DL2 got decent reviews. GTA got mixed/average scores and there's just 2 points difference between the two games. And there are plenty of times I've preferred a 6-7 over an 8-9 game.
I feel like this is more a condemnation on the journalistic review industry when a "busted" game gets an average rating.
Casual here!
I played and platinumed GTA3: Definitive Edition for 70+ hours, and I am convinced the lot of you moaners haven't.
The game is not broken and is perfectly playable. But then again I know it's 20 year old game, and I didn't expect remake like Resident Evil 2, 3 or Final Fantasy VII.
How come nobody is campaigning that ROCKSTAR GAMES PS2 CLASSICS BUNDLE digital copy retails for 57.99£?
@Toypop Some people even decide to cancel their pre-order and never play a game just because they can't play it before launch as their deluxe version states. They have zero patience, so the number of pre-orders comes as no surprise.
Very happy to have been taught patience. I hardly ever buy a game at launch. I have saved a ton of money and tend to play the game at its best state.
@Korgon Same with Pokemon and other some other Ninty games.
I wonder what % bought this out of nostalgia. Would be cool to see a survey of newer players vs nostalgic old timers.
People who still bought it and are still buying are part of the problem.
If you keep giving them money, they will keep trying to see how much they can get away with.
I guess Grove Street Games are reading this news and loving all the screwtiny...ooops, I meant scrutiny their games are attracting.
99% of the 10 million were probably preordered, STOP PREORDERING GAMES!!!
@lolwhatno 🤣🤣🤣
The voice of reason, in a sea of chaos
I bet most people here have enjoyed a game despite being full of bugs before. Dissing casual gamers, you all sound like a bunch of snobs.
@JB_Whiting i hate to tell you this , but in our minds we think we are the majority of gamers , when in reality is " casual gamers" is like 90% of people who buy games, people that comment on stuff on the internet are really a pretty small % of that.
@Phelaidar if those people enjoy it , then why worry. at the end of the day worry about yourself more , and less what other people do.
@MillenialDoomer yep! I bought it and as I think I've commented before, I bought it knowing full well it COULD be a mess and I could be throwing money away. I'm old enough to be able to make that decision all by myself and I'm in a position to be able to lose that money if it turns out to be poor.
But it isn't the mess the non-purchasers are making out. Is it groundbreaking? No. Did I expect it to be? Also no. We don't need some jumped up know-it-alls suggesting we're sheep for buying it. I can only assume that they know how 'bad' it is because they bought it too.
I've actually enjoyed what I've played so far, but juggling work and kids means I've not sunk as many hours into it as I would some years ago. It's always there though, at any point I get an hour or so I can turn it on and enjoy it.
@CynicalGamer I'd put myself in the latter category for sure!
@ApostateMage whilst I agree, I think you accidentally left and 's' in there somewhere 👀
This is why gaming companies feel justified in releasing broken games
Your wallets have spoken. They will release GTA 5 enhanced broken and it will still sell millions
Cmon..10 million isn't surprising. Across 6 platforms and pre-orders too? It'd be way more if it wasn't for quality issues.
10 million should surprise no one.
..As for GTA5? It'll sell millions too for a game released 2 generations ago. Expect GTA6 to release on PS5, PS6 and PS7.
@MillenialDoomer Hmmm your name says it all i can think of dozens of games that are worth my money and this terrible remaster is it. Even the remaster of Resident Evil 0-1 or the Final Fantasy 10 on PS4 may not be groundbreaking but atleast they put in some effort and showed respect to the past.
@ApostateMage Jezus you are the problem why the industry does what it wants. Why are you calling people that have standards snobs.
This and the pandemic is why gaming is in the state that it's in. 😒
everyone whinging about it, but everyone buying it too... the hypocrisy loll
@CynicalGamer i'm guessing a lot of people bought it because of that reason.
@Uncharted2007 by your logic if some one enjoys something you don't they must be a sheep? you think too highly of your opinion lol
@Toypop Yeah, exactly like movies. You continue watching them only if you found it fun. Same is happening to games. You made a good point in comparing them to demos
@lolwhatno I was at work, at the time of that rant. Im home with mah doggo, now, in a better place. So, whatever. Let the players game!
@twitchtvpat I hold my opinion in higher standing than I hold other's.
I’m not going to read this whole comment section, but in case no one has pointed it out yet, this article is just wrong.
Grand Theft auto games across all formats and all editions(not counting GTAV) sold 10M in that time, although I believe the sales numbers are so preposterously high now that they round to the nearest unit of 5, so it could actually be significantly lower than 10M.
The GTA trilogy did not make the top 20 selling games in the USA, or top 25 in the UK, for the year. Placing it behind games that sold significantly less than 10M. RE Village was the 8th best selling game of the year in the USA and sold worldwide 5.7M units.
So unless the game sold an insane number of units in some random territories it most certainly got nowhere near 10M. On PC it’s not even on Steam, which drastically reduces sales there.
Gamers can blame themselves for the state of the industry. We let these companies get away with so much BS.
"Vote with your wallet!"
Yeah, clearly gamers are, and they're saying..."you want to screw us over? Sure, why not, here...have my money!" 🤦♂️
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