Grand Theft Auto 5 is an absurdly popular game and has been for two console generations and nearly a decade. But in 2020, it passed an especially insane sales milestone.
The fifth entry in the incredibly popular Grand Theft Auto series released back in 2013 alongside Grand Theft Auto Online, its online multiplayer mode. Both games have had several expansions and DLC released since then to add new content and keep the playerbase engaged.
According to Canadian video game journalist Geoff Keighley, Grand Theft Auto 5 has now sold in excess of 140 million units since its launch in 2013. Beyond that, 2020 was Grand Theft Auto 5's best year since its launch. The game sold over 20 million copies last year; that's more copies of than in any year since 2013. Though this isn't too surprising, since Grand Theft Auto Online had its highest earning month ever back in December.
Grand Theft Auto is a series with a storied history in gaming being one of the best selling and most popular game series of all time. Originally releasing in 1997 with the first Grand Theft Auto, which was quite different then the titles that would follow it. It had a top down perspective and involved completing missions to try and get as many points as possible in each level. The series has always courted controversy, from the violence of the early games, to the "hot coffee" mod, to Grand Theft Auto Online's more recent use of $100 microtransactions. At least some of these, especially the "hot coffee" controversy, probably helped to propel sales of the series. Grand Theft Auto didn't really take on its modern form until Grand Theft Auto 3, which was released in 2001.
This is great news for Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, and for the Grand Theft Auto series as a whole. More sales means more money, and more money means Rockstar will continue making more Grand Theft Auto content for fans. And the half a billion dollars Grand Theft Auto Online has generated so far will probably mean a lot more content to come.
Of course, this all begs the important question, when is Rockstar going to finally release Grand Theft Auto 6? Fans can't keep buying Grand Theft Auto 5 forever, and with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S having released just last year, now is the perfect time the next-gen Grand Theft Auto title, one that will hopefully learn a few lessons from Grand Theft Auto 4.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is out now for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.