Video game sales charts have been more or less dominated by Grand Theft Auto 5 since the game launched in 2013. A goliath by any measure, the game's lasting appeal has been supplemented by consistent updates for Grand Theft Auto Online. Recently, Grand Theft Auto 5 left Xbox Game Pass, Xbox's games subscription service. Its departure seems to be fueling yet another spike in sales, at least in the UK.
As noted by gamesindustry.biz, this week's UK boxed sales charts were dominated by three older games, Mario Kart 8, Grand Theft Auto 5, and Minecraft. These numbers shouldn't necessarily come as a surprise, as the trio represents some of the best-selling games not just of the last decade, but also of all time. What's most interesting, though, is just how much of a correlation there seems to be between Xbox Game Pass and Grand Theft Auto 5's sales.
In fact, Grand Theft Auto 5 managed to rise five slots on the sales charts, seeing a whopping 44% increase in sales for the week that ended on August 14. Grand Theft Auto 5 left Xbox Game Pass on August 8, so it's difficult to attribute the boost in sales to anything other than the game no longer being available to those that were playing through the service. Of course, triple-a game releases have been few and far between this month, which is also likely a contributing factor to the boost.
A sharp sales boost thanks to Xbox Game Pass isn't necessarily unique to Grand Theft Auto 5, either. The service has regularly helped give a jolt to smaller titles, as their inclusion with the subscription opens them up to a broader audience. For some games, it can be seen as a sort of "try before you buy" system, allowing gamers to get a taste of what's on offer. That's valuable not just for gamers, but also for developers trying to get their game into the public eye.
For Rockstar, Grand Theft Auto 5's increase can be celebrated as a big win. In a way, it's a payoff for investing so heavily in the online components of the game, which has seen a hefty financial haul to boot. However, maintaining the 44% leap for the rest of the week might be a tall order, as the surge will likely start to die down. There's reportedly a remaster of three classic Grand Theft Auto games coming, though, and hype for that might be enough to keep Grand Theft Auto 5 sales chugging along nicely.
Source: gamesindustry.biz