Grand Theft Auto 5 has achieved a monumental sales milestone, surpassing 230 million copies sold worldwide since its initial launch in 2013. This figure was revealed by Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick during a recent earnings call, highlighting the game's sustained commercial success.
To contextualize these numbers, Grand Theft Auto 5's lifetime sales are more than ten times that of Baldur's Gate 3's estimated 20 million copies and five times Cyberpunk 2077's 40 million. Annually, the game averages approximately 17.7 million copies sold, a rate that rivaled the lifetime sales of some titles that rank in the bottom half of the top 50 best-selling games. On a monthly basis, this translates to an average of 1.5 million units, a figure that would typically represent significant success for a standalone title.
The consistent sales performance places Grand Theft Auto 5 as the third best-selling game of all time, though it still trails behind enduring titles like Tetris, with an estimated 520 million sales, and Minecraft, which has sold around 400 million copies.
This immense success is a significant factor as Rockstar Games prepares for the launch of Grand Theft Auto 6. The anticipation for the next installment is considerable, with Take-Two expecting the upcoming title to build upon the passion and anticipation for the series. The performance of Grand Theft Auto 5 sets a substantial precedent for its successor, which is reportedly one of the most expensive games ever developed, with an estimated multi-billion dollar budget.