Normally, you'd think that even a AAA release would lose steam three years after launch. Not in the case of GTA 5, however. Rockstar lined up a number of factors which have boosted the game's sales and popularity, while also ensuring that it would stay on the top years later. What's more, not only is the game popular, but it's still growing.
The new figures came in after today's earnings report went out to investors, detailing Take-Two's revenue data for Q2 of the 2017 fiscal year. Not only did GTA 5 hit yet another sales milestone- and we reiterate, that's 70 Million without digital sales — but it's also responsible for boosting the company's revenue from digital sources.
Digital non-games sales — meaning microtransactions and the like — now account for 31% of all revenue and more than half of all digital revenue. Such purchases brought Take-Two $230.8 million over the quarter, and the main contributor according to the company was GTA Online.
Looking at the big picture, the company's total revenue made quite the jump as well. Net revenue went up a whole 21%, with the company earning $420.2 million, compared to the $347 million brought in during the same quarter last year.
When it comes to actual game sales, be it digital or physical, the company earned $452.8 million, with GTA 5, The Bioshock Collection, NBA 2K16 and XCOM 2 being the main contributors to this figure.
While most people assume that the main source of income is GTA Online's Shark Cards — which technically is still correct — the game itself is still moving massive numbers of copies even three years after initial launch. Strauss Zelnick, the company's CEO" title="">, said that the game "continues to see year-over-year growth" in terms of copies sold.
That figure of GTA Online having 8 million unique players per week came from last year's earnings report, and while this report didn't update that figure with concrete data, it does state that the number only went up.
GTA 5 seems to be defying the typical AAA lifecycle, and instead of taking a downward turn, it's gaining momentum as the years go by. The fact that Rockstar is supporting the game with free DLC continually undoubtedly helps. Add to that the principle of 'popularity breeds popularity', and it's pretty hard to see the game losing steam anytime soon.
Which is just as well as far as Take-Two is concerned, seeing as the company wants to keep GTA Online running hot and profitable at least through 2020, but ideally even longer. We can safely say that they are on the right track.
Have you bought GTA 5 recently, or are you a long-time player?
