In 2017, Grand Theft Auto V was the third-best-selling video game in the United States, publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed during its latest earnings call. This is substantial, particularly when you consider that 2017 also saw the release of huge titles like Star Wars: Battlefront II and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out on Twitter that Grand Theft Auto V‘s 90 million figure means the game sold 15 million units in 2017 alone. This is a figure most games are not able to achieve in the 12 months after launch, and much of this can be attributed to the continued support the game’s Grand Theft Auto Online component has received. The three-act Doomsday Heist gave players a reason to return to the game — if Rockstar, which is owned by Take-Two, eventually releases a Switch version of the game, we can only expect to see those sales figures climb even higher.
In terms of total sales, Grand Theft Auto V has only been bested globally by two games: Minecraft, which has managed to sell 144 million copies across the many platforms it’s available on, and Tetris, a behemoth that has sold more than 170 million since its launch in the 1980s.
Rockstar has another game planned for 2018 that should help its bottom line: Red Dead Redemption 2. The open-world Western epic was originally planned for a fall 2017 release but has since been delayed multiple times. It’s the sequel to 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, a widely acclaimed game that is considered to be one of the best titles for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 generation. There’s no word yet on when we’ll get the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, but Rockstar’s current project means it’s likely still at least a few years away.
Grand Theft Auto V is available on Xbox One Xbox One Xbox One Xbox One Xbox One
