In the UK, Grand Theft Auto V has sold 334,000 boxed copies this year alone. This means a four-year-old game is the best selling title in 2017 so far in the UK.
Originally released in 2013 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it was released two years later on the PS4 and Xbox One. It sits at first place right above Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands which has sold 312,000 boxed copies. In third place is Horizon: Zero Dawn at286,538 followed by Call of Duty Infinite Warfare at 204,77 units.
This data from the Entertainment Retailer's Association does not include digital sales such as Steam and the PlayStation Store. This leaves digital only games left out of the equation. GTA V isn't just killing it in the UK market though, it currently reigns as the fourth best-selling game of 2017 in the US market, based on NPD data that does include digital downloads.
This present success of GTA V isn't due to the single-player campaign alone, although it was widely praised for its story during its initial release. It's the presence and continuation of Grand Theft Auto Online.
Talking with GamesIndustry.biz at E3, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick shares his thoughts on the success of GTA Online.
"The reason, in my opinion, why GTA V has sold 80m units, and GTA Online had another record year 3-and-a-half years since its release, is because it stands alone in the generation. In every prior generation, there have been other titles that have clustered around GTA from a quality point-of-view. That's clearly not the case now. If you are over 17 and you have a new generation console, you have GTA. Otherwise we wouldn't have shipped 80m units."
This could only mean good things for Rockstar's next title, Red Dead Redemption 2. The original Red Dead Redemption, which released between GTA IV and GTA V, was highly praised for its strides in technology and the fullness of its open world. Take Two has high hopes for Red Dead Redemption 2, but reportedly not as high as GTA V. This may just be the publisher playing it safe, but we'll have to wait and see when it releases in Spring 2018.
