It was an immediate hit, moving over 11 millionunits in its first 24 hours on the market, raking in more than one billion dollars inrevenue, and setting all kinds of world records. Just over a year later, after the PlayStation4 and Xbox One versions hit the market, Grand Theft Auto 5 went on to become the best-sellinggame ever released in the United Kingdom, period. "We're not worthy!" In the years since, Grand Theft Auto 5 hasn'tlost any of its momentum. In June 2017, it topped the UK sales charts,beating out newer hits such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Between May and November 2017, Rockstar soldover 5 million copies to American gamers, pushing the game's lifetime total to 85 millioncopies sold. As far as the company's bottom line is concerned,a new Grand Theft Auto is unnecessary. The last one is still doing just fine. One of the reasons why Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to thrive is its multiplayer component,known as Grand Theft Auto Online.
While it features the same map and open worldas Grand Theft Auto 5, the internet-connected version of the game offers players a bunchof extra content, including complex multiplayer heists, in addition to the ability to causeepic mayhem and destruction with friends. "The big one." "The big one!" "The big one!" GTA Online receives regular, free updates,too, each of which adds tons of new content to the game. It also has made Rockstar a tidy profit, thankslargely to the option to buy GTA currency for real-world cash. It's the gift that keeps on giving for bothplayers and the publisher. The folks over at Rockstar aren't dummies. They've been at this video game thing fora while, and they know that there's no good reason to compete against yourself. The upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2, afterall, checks a lot of the same boxes as the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Settings aside, they're both open-world gamesthat let players live out their tawdry criminal fantasies.
Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto areessentially cousins, and releasing a new Grand Theft Auto shortly after the western adventurewould undoubtedly cut into Red Dead's profits. Grand Theft Auto isn't an annual franchise like Call of Duty or Madden. Rockstar doesn't crank them out every yearor two. Ever since GTA made the move to 3D, the numberedinstallments have been few and far between. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand TheftAuto: San Andreas might've come out one and three years after Grand Theft Auto III, respectively,but those aren't fully-fledged sequels.
They're more like spin-offs, using the sameengine as their predecessors with some new content thrown in. A truly new Grand Theft Auto only comes outa couple of times a decade. After Grand Theft Auto III's 2001 debut, fanshad to wait seven years before 2008's Grand Theft Auto 4. Grand Theft Auto 5 didn't come out until 2013—afive year gap—and the next-generation editions of the same game didn't hit the market until2014. The PC version of the game arrived even later:players without consoles had to wait until 2015 to cruise Los Santos' crime-ridden streets. Even if Rockstar did have Grand Theft Auto 6 locked in and ready to go, there's no guaranteethat players would be prepared for it.
Close to half a decade after launch, peopleare still finding new ways to have fun with Grand Theft Auto 5. Some are busy using GTA 5's filmmaking toolsto put together movies. Others use Grand Theft Auto Online's multiplayerinfrastructure to assemble motorcycle gangs, or to challenge each other to complete insanestunts.
On PCs, players are even busier, with modsallowing for all kinds of crazy gameplay augmentations. Chances are, Rockstar is going to be donewith Grand Theft Auto 5 well before the players are. Take your time with Grand Theft Auto 6, guys. In the meantime, we'll be just fine.
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