Grand Theft Auto V was released six years ago. You’d think in that time, people might have moved on to other stuff, but Rockstar’s open world crime sim continues to sell like a particularly hot cake.
I don’t know if it’s the game’s free online mode, the gorgeous visuals, or the fact that Baker Street is on one of the radio stations, but copies of GTA V sold will soon outnumber humans, at which point I imagine they will rise up and claim the Earth – as was surely always Rockstar’s plan.
According to Rockstar’s latest earnings report (via Rockstar Intel), GTA V has sold over 110 million copies worldwide since launching on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013. True, the game was later re-released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, which likely helps boost the numbers, but 110 million in six years is still ridiculous.
I mean, do you know anyone that doesn’t own a copy of this game? I don’t, and I’ve tried really hard to find someone, anyone, that hasn’t. There are people they claim to have not picked it up at some point, but they’re liars.
GTA V hit the one million mark back in November 2018, which means it managed to sell another 10 million in six months. I don’t even know how that happened, but it’s fast closing in on Minecraft to take the spot for second best selling game of all time.
For comparison, Minecraft was released back in 2009, has been released on every console or device you can think of, and has solid 154 million units in its lifetime. I’d say it’s really only a matter of time before Rockstar close in on that, but as soon as the next generation of consoles launch, you can bet your life Minecraft will be re-released for them.
The current best selling game of all time is Tetris with 170 million units. Given the rate both GTA V and Minecraft continue to grow, I don’t see the classic puzzle game keeping the top spot for long.
Meanwhile, we were provided with an update on Red Dead Redemption 2 sales. The Western epic continues to do pretty respectable numbers, with 24 million units sold since releasing last October, meaning it’s shifted one million in the past three months alone.
Clearly, Rockstar probably never need to release another game for the rest of time – but if we don’t see Bully 2 soon I predict riots.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.