As if there was any doubt that GTA is the most successful video game franchise of all time the series has now reached 395 million sales.
It’s peculiarly difficult to know exactly how well most video games sell. For starters, most publishers don’t release any sales figures (Nintendo is a rare example of one that ) but the other problem is that the most played video games are often free-to-play mobile titles or other things, such as Roblox, where it’s arguable whether they even count as games.
Most would agree that is and so it’s generally regarded as the best selling video game of all time, with upwards of 240 million sales.
The best-selling traditional game though is not open to debate. It’s Grand Theft Auto 5 with, according to Take-Two’s latest figures, a staggering 175 million copies sold across three generations of consoles.
According to Take-Two, GTA 5 reached $1 billion in retail sales faster than any other entertainment release (not just games) in history, with the Grand Theft Auto brand as a whole now totalling 395 million sales in 26 years.
Working out what game comes directly after Grand Theft Auto 5 is even more difficult, with suggesting the mobile version of Tetris and then Wii Sports – which doesn’t really count as it was bundled for free with the Wii in the West.
PUBG: Battlegrounds comes next, on 75 million copies sold, with Mario Kart 8, on 60.46 million, making it the best-selling non-bundled console game (although its total does include both the Switch version and the Wii U original).
Next is Super Mario Bros. but, again, it was often included free, whether people wanted it or not, with the NES, which means that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the next highest ranked game, which according to Take-Two has just passed the 50 million mark.
Take-Two claim the entire franchise has sold over 70 million copies worldwide, although that doesn’t mean that Red Dead Redemption 1 sold 20 million as that also includes original title Red Dead Revolver and the standalone versions of Undead Nightmare and Red Dead Online.
Given how much money this means Take-Two is making, you might think that would put them above the recent round of redundancies that has hit other large tech companies .
That’s not the case though, with the Rockstar Games owner revealing that they’re looking to make $50 million in annual savings via a new ‘cost reduction programme’. Although apparently it will focus on ‘corporate and publishing functions’ more than developers.
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