‘GTA V’ surpasses 140 million copies sold; what does it mean for the ‘GTA 6’ launch?

“GTA V” is officially one of the biggest-selling games of all time after it reached another sales milestone after more than seven years since its launch. Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive recently announced that it had shipped more than 140 million copies of the game.

‘GTA V’ sales continue to soar after 7+ years

At this point, it is safe to say that “GTA V” has been a gift that keeps on giving for the Take-Two and developer Rockstar Games. Helping the game reach this milestone was its blowout year in 2020. The company confirmed that around 20 million copies of “GTA V” were shipped in 2020, which is the game’s biggest year since it was released in 2013.

“It’s absolutely amazing that ‘Grand Theft Auto’ has sold more units in calendar 2020 than it did in any year since its original release in 2013. It’s just extraordinary,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told CNBC’s Mad Money earlier this week. This is a much more interesting figure when fans take into account an earlier report that the game sold 15 million copies between February 2020 and November 2020.

Does this success affect the ‘GTA 6’ release window?

It is unlikely that the continuing success of “GTA V” has a direct effect on the release window of “GTA 6.” But there have been speculations that the studio may not see the immediate launch of an all-new installment if the latest title is still a massive success after almost eight years.

Take-Two and Rockstar have been very silent about their plans for “GTA 6” despite the obvious demand for it. When Rockstar was rumored to headline a PS5 event last year, many fans thought that was going to be the much-awaited announcement of the next title. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the launch of an expanded “GTA V” version made for new-gen consoles.

The expanded “GTA V” will launch in the second half of 2021 on PS5 and a likely release on Xbox Series X/S at a later time. What this means is Take-Two and Rockstar might want its fans to focus their attention on this confirmed launch, making it more unlikely for the companies to make any “GTA 6”-related announcements anytime soon.