It’s time to celebrate another gaming anniversary, and this time, we’re celebrating one of the best-selling video games ever. We’re celebrating a game that was so big that even all these years later, it’s still moving units and proving how long-lasting it is with its online content. We’re talking about GTA 5. The game was released in 2013, and ever since then, it’s been making its impact on the gaming scene. The irony of this title is many-fold, not the least of which is its success. Everyone expected the game to be successful; it was only a question of how successful it would be. Yet, 12 years later, many can’t comprehend just how big it got.
As of earlier this year, GTA 5 has sold over 215 million copies. What does that mean overall? That means that when you stack it up against every other video game in history, its ranking on that list is No.2. Think about that. An M-rated, incredibly violent and controversial game managed to get all the way up to the No.2 spot. That’s skills, right there.
Now, as for HOW the game did that, that’s a little more complex than you might think. The important thing to note here is that it’s NOT simply because of its quality. We all know quality games that don’t sell 215 million copies.
No, the game’s success can be marked in how it kept moving from one console to the next, and how it kept updating its online features. You see, the game offered an “extension” of its main campaign through its online mode, and then, Rockstar Games kept updating it and giving new content for it. Just as important, this was MEANINGFUL content. It wasn’t just new cars or weapons. It was whole storylines, missions, and more that you could play and see the world fleshed out even further. When you add those two factors into the love the game had through its really fun main campaign, you get a game that’s lasted for 12 years and is still talked about fondly today.
Naturally, this has led to all the hype for the 6th entry that comes out next year. In fact, one of the reasons said entry took so long to get announced was that Rockstar Games was making a LOT of money off the 5th game and its online content, so there was no need to rush into production for what came next!
Needless to say, it has a LOT to live up to, and it’ll be curious how many units it sells.
