I mean, are any of us actually surprised by this? Rockstar's insanely popular open-world action adventure game has once again climbed to the top of the United Kingdom's video game sales charts, 3 years after release, beating a number of major AAA titles. Not only that, but this is the 10th time the game hit this number, making it one among just 12 other video games in the medium's entire history.
This comes after news of GTA 5 selling over 7 million copies in the United Kingdom alone, accounting for over 10% of the 70 million copies that have been shipped, and neither figure contains digital sales. The national sales charts do, however, meaning the game beat heavy hitters such as Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Watch_Dogs 2 across all methods of distribution.
The full chart for this week is as follows:
Some interesting facts about this lineup — Infinite Warfare enjoyed the top spot for 8 weeks straight after launch in spite of initial fears that the game would sell poorly due to the Sci-Fi setting. Rocket League is the only Indie title on the list, and has been a highly popular game for months on end.
Steep is a surprise tenant of the list, as it was met with mild anticipation had had minimal marketing. It's an experimental Ubisoft title that lets players loose in a wide, mountainous winter open-world with no concrete objectives. Rather, players are expected to make their own fun skiing and snowboarding across the landscape, completing various challenges.
As for GTA 5, this is more like returning to that penthouse you were evicted from almost half a year ago, and you already have your in-jokes with the janitor who covered your back with the owner after each unauthorized party you hosted... okay we might have drifted off track there.
While the game held steady as #1 for several weeks after launch, it crept back to that coveted position many times since, and held it on and off, slipping back whenever a major release hit only to rise back up. Since launch, not once has GTA 5 slipped off this list, which is a pretty major feat in and of itself.
It will be pretty interesting to see it and Red Dead Redemption 2 occupy the same list come fall, since that's pretty much guaranteed to happen.
Did you recently contribute to GTA 5's sales?
