GTA 5 sales are slowing, but the franchise is still raking in millions. Take-Two's clever moves are keeping the GTA franchise thriving.
It was bound to happen eventually, and if anything, we're surprised it didn't happen sooner. Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the best-selling video games in the world, and the latest installment in one of the best-selling video game franchises in the world — but after over a decade of dominating sales charts, the inevitable has finally come.
GTA 5 has finally peaked and slumped.
As part of Take-Two Interactive's latest presentation, it mentioned that the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold over 430 million copies worldwide, but it didn't update the sales figures of GTA 5. This is possibly because GTA 5 sales failed to hit more than 5 million in a quarter for the first time in a long, long while.
Is this bad news? Not necessarily. GTA+, Rockstar Games' controversial subscription service, saw a "strong" double digit increase in new members, which likely helps offset some of the revenue lost from the lower GTA 5 sales.
Overall sales of the entire franchise are up from last quarter, which is also positive, as per its recent 10-Q SEC filing. According to Take-Two, the company generated $1.338 billion in net revenue during the period, with GTA accounting for 13%. If you do a bit of quick math, this means that the fourth-best-selling video game franchise ever made Take-Two roughly $175 million in revenue last quarter, proving that it has no competition.
With GTA+ subscription prices rising to $7.99 and adding non-GTA games like Bully and L.A Noire — this is on top of rumors that GTA+ is coming to the Nintendo Switch — expect Take-Two to continue making just as much per quarter despite the understandable declining sales of GTA 5.
Elsewhere in Take-Two's official Q1 2025 earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track to release in Fall 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X, remaining unaffected by the SAG-AFTRA voice actor strike. For the 'nth straight earnings call, Zelnick, once again, shot down talks that Take-Two will release its games on a subscription platform.
While Take-Two isn't expected to release any official news regarding GTA 6 anytime soon, fans can look forward to watching Ned Luke co-host the Future Games Show on August 21.
