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Grand Theft Auto 5 has broken another incredible record, with Rockstar’s open-world game now being labeled the most successful entertainment product of all time. This means that GTA 5 has surpassed other hugely popular releases such as the Star Wars movies, Marvel’s films and Harry Potter to become the most profitable media title ever released.
GTA 5 has amassed over $6 billion in revenue, usurping the total revenue achieved by the likes of Star Wars and Gone with the Wind, which both pulled in around $3 billion each when adjusted for inflation. Considering that these films have had decades to acquire this total while GTA 5 was only released back in 2013, this is an incredible achievement that highlights the bank-rolling power of the gaming industry.
The news, first reported by MarketWatch, doesn’t indicate if the $6 billion figure takes into account Rockstar’s continued monetization of GTA 5 with microtransactions, or if it’s based on revenue from game sales alone. With GTA 5 having remained a staple of sales charts since its release, and it having been launched on both last-gen and current-gen consoles as well as PC, it’s imaginable that physical and digital sales of the game would have made up the vast majority of its revenue. However, with Rockstar having put all its weight behind GTA Online, a key factor in GTA 5‘s success has been the continued support of its multiplayer component.
“Since its launch in 2013, GTA 5 has sold 90 million units, putting its total haul for publisher Take-Two Interactive in the neighborhood of $6 billion,” Cowen analyst Doug Creutz told MarketWatch.
“Far above the success of blockbuster movies like Star Wars or Gone With The Wind, which both collected more than $3 billion, adjusted for inflation. Even taking into account DVD and streaming sales would not put the biggest movie blockbusters in GTA 5’s neighborhood.”
Though there have been plenty of other games that have provided landmark moments in the entertainment industry, GTA 5‘s immense popularity has surpassed that of other blockbuster series such as Mario and Call of Duty. With Red Dead Redemption 2 set to release later this year, Rockstar will be hoping that it can mimic the success of its previous release, with the action game set to have its very own multiplayer offering.
