Rockstar’s GTA franchise has been a powerhouse in the world of gaming for closing in on two decades. Ever since GTA 3 opened up the explosive criminal simulator to a three-dimensional world, new installments and downloadable content for the games have earned the developer and its publisher untold millions. GTA V really took things to a new level though.
Released at the tail end of the last generation of consoles, GTA V ended up spanning generations, releasing again on the PS4 and Xbox One and then the PC several months after that. That has helped it sell tens of millions of copies and the digital revenue from the online mode has kept a steady flood of money pouring into Take Two and Rockstar’s coffers.
It is worth pointing out that while Take Two cites 75 million copies of the game have been “shipped,” that takes into account all copies sent to retailers and is a different statistics than those ‘sold’ to consumers. Still, there’s no arguing that those physical copies are sitting on shelves. Despite it being nearly three and a half years since its original release, GTA V is still the second-hottest-selling game in the United Kingdom at the moment.
However, even taking shipping versus sold numbers with a pinch of salt, Take Two’s second-most-successful game in recent memory is NBA 2K17, which in comparison has shipped just 7 million.
That’s a monumentally successful game, but not even in the same ballpark as Grand Theft Auto V.
Both franchises contributed to Take Two pulling in $477 million in revenue for 2016, with digital revenue — that is, micro-transaction and DLC-based sales — accounted for $240 million of that (thanks, Gamespot) proving that GTA V’s online mode continues to be a great source of income for the company.
