Grand Theft Auto remains one of the most successful franchises in the history of gaming.
Rockstar Games has earned a lot of money from the GTA games. The current financial situation of the company, however, is not seeing an upward trend. While Rockstar Games has claimed that the sales of GTA 5 reached an all-time high during the pandemic, things are not looking that great for the company at the moment.
Also Read: Grand Theft Auto 5 Update Brings In A Very Important Change
Derek Strickland, who tracks the finances of the gaming industry, has shared details about how the overall earnings of GTA have dropped down to pre-pandemic levels. As per Strickland, the franchise has managed to earn just about $202 million in the first quarter of 2022.
Per TTWO 10-Q filings, GTA made 18.3% of net Q1'23 revenues ($1.102 billion). https://t.co/U9BPOPnsgG
— Derek Strickland (@DeekeTweak) August 9, 2022
Strickland has also stated that Take-Two Interactive, which happens to be the parent company of Rockstar Games, has declared that the GTA series was responsible only for 18.3% of the total revenue generated by the company in the first quarter of this year.
Apart from sharing the aforementioned data, Strickland also spoke about the factors that led to a decline in revenue. In the recent past, Grand Theft Auto Online has registered a sharp drop in its overall revenue. Another reason behind the drop in revenue is said to be the fact that limited copies of GTA 5 have been sold at discounted rates. Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Edition, too, hasn’t been able to register very high sales.
Grand Theft Auto franchise earnings are down to pre-pandemic levels.
GTA made ~$202 million in Q1'23.
This signals a few things:
• Comparatively lower GTA Online revenues
• Copies of GTA V sold at discount
• GTA Trilogy sales have nosedived pic.twitter.com/4v4NlfLseT— Derek Strickland (@DeekeTweak) August 9, 2022
It’s a well-known fact that the GTA Trilogy could not match up to the gigantic expectations fans had from it. The game, which received a lot of criticism from fans and media alike, is still marked by the presence of countless bugs and several other issues. According to a report compiled and published by Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Definitive Editionregistered sales that amounted to less than a million copies in the second quarter.
GTA game sales comparisons show that the GTA Definitive Edition has sold less than 1 million copies for the second quarter in a row. pic.twitter.com/3Ggq0GCV2A
— Derek Strickland (@DeekeTweak) August 9, 2022
Even though the overall revenue has dropped, Rockstar Games has gone ahead and rolled out The Criminal Enterprises update for GTA Online. This new update has marked the arrival of new vehicles, missions and several improvements in the gameplay. As per an announcement released by the game, these updates have contributed greatly towards making the game a success.
Just in: Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive, Inc has officially announced during its Q1 2024 investor conference that GRAND THEFT AUTO V has sold over 170 million copies to date.
An additional 5 million were sold during the last quarter.#RockstarGames pic.twitter.com/DnwricsOZb
— Ben (@videotech_) August 8, 2022
Prominent GTA insider Ben had earlier reported that Rockstar Games has made an announcement that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold more than 170 million copies across the globe. Till now, the GTA franchise has registered sales of more than 380 million copies. While one can’t deny the massive success the GTA series has garnered over the years, Rockstar will have to take some measures to ensure the overall revenue sees a steady increase with time.