Photo: Rockstar Games
The wait for the official announcement is finally over! Sam Houser, president of Rockstar Games, posted on social media about the "next Grand Theft Auto." While he didn't exactly spell "GTA 6," it goes without saying that there's a 99% it will be called Grand Theft Auto 6. However, today's question is, can GTA 6 equal or even surpass it's predecessor's succes?
Aside from the world-shaking reveal, it's also been made public that GTA 5 has sold more than 190 million units as of November 2023. It's the third most sold game in history, behind Minecraft with 300+ million and Tetris with 520+ million.
As a side note, I disagree with putting Tetris in the same batch as a single title like GTA 5 because Tetris has a million variations in gameplay and mechanics. In contrast, GTA 5 might have gone through two re-releases, but fundamentally, it's the same game.
Moving on, Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's CEO, recently made GTA 5's financial earnings public, showing a steady rate of income of around $700 million per year since 2013. This also includes revenue from GTA Online and the latest trilogy released upon the world. The latter is available for GTA+ members at no extra cost, by the way.
So, after all is said and done, could GTA 6 surpass GTA 5, or was the latter simply at the right place at the right time?
The facts, folks, are these. GTA V came in an era where online multiplayer gaming didn't have all these bells and whistles we have in today's online landscape shaped by giants like Fortnite, Rocket League, PUBG, Call of Duty Warzone, Roblox, Minecraft, Counter-Strike 2, Genshin Impact, and everything else out there that's raking in more money every month than a typical 2-bedroom apartment could fit in cash.
In fact, GTA 5 Online came in a more or less barren wasteland and made history by being one of the main pillars supporting this infrastructure today.
But given the immense 10-year distance between GTA 5 (2013) and GTA 6 (2024-2025), it could be that the latter's online mode will simply be more of the same, but with improved graphics and gameplay mechanics here and there. Going by this train of thought, the hype could severly die down if GTA 6 Online isn't that much different that the current one.
This is all speculation, of course, and while it seems GTA is an unstoppable force, nothing lasts forever. However, if we follow the evergreen rising trajectory of GTA 5's meteoric sales, we could safely assume that the 6th main installment of the series will equal that performance and even topple it.
Only time will tell. In this case, that means 10 years after GTA 6's arrival. In other words, I hope to see you again in 2024-2025 with a definitive answer. This kind of lightning-in-a-bottle type of success doesn't come around very often, but when it does, it's nothing but fascinating to study.
As a side note, I disagree with putting Tetris in the same batch as a single title like GTA 5 because Tetris has a million variations in gameplay and mechanics. In contrast, GTA 5 might have gone through two re-releases, but fundamentally, it's the same game.
Moving on, Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two's CEO, recently made GTA 5's financial earnings public, showing a steady rate of income of around $700 million per year since 2013. This also includes revenue from GTA Online and the latest trilogy released upon the world. The latter is available for GTA+ members at no extra cost, by the way.
So, after all is said and done, could GTA 6 surpass GTA 5, or was the latter simply at the right place at the right time?
The facts, folks, are these. GTA V came in an era where online multiplayer gaming didn't have all these bells and whistles we have in today's online landscape shaped by giants like Fortnite, Rocket League, PUBG, Call of Duty Warzone, Roblox, Minecraft, Counter-Strike 2, Genshin Impact, and everything else out there that's raking in more money every month than a typical 2-bedroom apartment could fit in cash.
In fact, GTA 5 Online came in a more or less barren wasteland and made history by being one of the main pillars supporting this infrastructure today.
But given the immense 10-year distance between GTA 5 (2013) and GTA 6 (2024-2025), it could be that the latter's online mode will simply be more of the same, but with improved graphics and gameplay mechanics here and there. Going by this train of thought, the hype could severly die down if GTA 6 Online isn't that much different that the current one.
This is all speculation, of course, and while it seems GTA is an unstoppable force, nothing lasts forever. However, if we follow the evergreen rising trajectory of GTA 5's meteoric sales, we could safely assume that the 6th main installment of the series will equal that performance and even topple it.
Only time will tell. In this case, that means 10 years after GTA 6's arrival. In other words, I hope to see you again in 2024-2025 with a definitive answer. This kind of lightning-in-a-bottle type of success doesn't come around very often, but when it does, it's nothing but fascinating to study.
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