One of the most disappointing moments of 2020 for fans ofGrand Theft Autowas the reveal ofGrand Theft Auto 5andGrand Theft Auto Onlineon next generation consoles. This in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, butfans were really expecting to get word aboutGrand Theft Auto 6. From a fan perspective, it’s understandable that they would be upset by this.Grand Theft Auto 5released in 2013, meaning it’s going on its eighth year. The common sentiment is that it’s time for something new in the franchise. Taken from a business perspective though, developer Rockstar Games has no reason to, and a new financial report makes that incredibly clear.
The data comes from ICS-digital and reveals some financial information from the highest earning video games. The absolutely massive amounts of money these games are pulling in on a daily basis is insane, and in some cases it can be used to understand why a developer might make certain decisions. AlongsideGrand Theft Auto Online, games likeCall of Duty,Animal Crossing, and evenCyberpunk 2077top the list.
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The report reveals thatGrand Theft Auto 5andGTA Onlinemade a staggering $911 million dollars in the last year in revenue. Broken down further, that means that the game is earning almost $2.5 million dollars every day, or about $1733 each minute. WhileGrand Theft Auto Onlineis not the highest earning game on the list, it is definitely the oldest. To put it into perspective, this eight year old game is generating more income than thebrand newCall of Duty: Black Ops: Cold Wardespite the latter being one of the top selling games of the year.
Once players realize that Rockstar Games is making almost a billion dollars a year to keep theGTA Onlineservers running and provide occasional updates and events, it becomes clear whyGrand Theft Auto 6isn’t even closeto the top of the priority list. While a sequel would almost certainly perform well, there are simply no guarantees. What’s more, this would likely draw players away fromGTA Online, potentially jeopardizing this steady source of income. Even if it did perform as well or better, fans must also take into account the massive cost of making a video game likeGrand Theft Auto 6.
To make the prospect ofsticking withGrand Theft Auto Onlineeven more compelling, the game made around 50% more this year than it did in the last, and that growth may very well continue. As much as fans (and possibly even the developers themselves) would love to seeGrand Theft Auto 6, it doesn’t seem likely any time soon with these numbers. Rockstar Games is still using its eight year old money printer, and it isn’t likely to fix something that isn’t broken.
Grand Theft Auto Onlineis available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in development.
