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Rockstar Games has apparently achieved a generational milestone on PlayStation, in more ways than one.
Mat Piscatella of Circana celebrated PlayStation’s 30 year anniversary with a list of the best-selling games in its history. Grand Theft Auto V has emerged as the greatest selling game in PlayStation’s history.
Incredibly, it earned that accolade in two fronts. Grand Theft Auto V sold the most, both in terms of units sold, and the amount of dollars it made.
Yes, We Know Grand Theft Auto V “Cheated”
Of course, we can’t ignore the obvious reason that Grand Theft Auto V could have earned this achievement. It was originally released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2013.
But then, Rockstar was quick to release PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions a year later. And then they released Grand Theft Auto V: Expanded and Enhanced for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2022.
Most games would not have gotten away with this. Even other big AAAs like The Last Of Us did not consistently have as many gamers buying the same game generation after generation.
Rockstar’s real ‘cheat code’ is not the Grand Theft Auto brand, as enduring as Mario and Tetris. It’s Grand Theft Auto Online, which put Rockstar in the perfect position to make the most money out of the live service game boom.
Rockstar’s Other Games Are In The Charts Too
Call of Duty dominates most of these PlayStation charts, but it’s no surprise to see other Rockstar Games also make it there.
In terms of amount of dollars made, Red Dead Redemption 2 is number 2, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is number 9, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is number 20.
In terms of units sold, Red Dead Redemption 2 is number 3, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is number 4, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is number 9.
The placement of these games reflects both how huge Rockstar turned out to be and how much the industry kept getting bigger through the decades. No, Grand Theft Auto III and IV, and the first Red Dead Redemption didn’t make it to these charts.
Those games reached huge achievements in their time, but as the industry kept getting bigger, their achievements were overshadowed.
Today there are considerably more gamers, and a lot more money in the industry. That’s the reason a lot of people expect Grand Theft Auto 6 to be the biggest video game release in the industry’s history.
And it seems safe to make that prediction. But how big will Grand Theft Auto 6 actually be? We’ll find out next year.
