When Grand Theft Auto 5 was released in 2013, it was the pinnacle of open-world gaming. The game takes players to the fictional state of Los Santos where glitzy consumerism lives alongside a seedy criminal underworld. Exploring its varied regions, its numerous backstreets, and the mysterious Mount Chiliad offers endless hours of fun, and this has allowed Grand Theft Auto 5 to thrive for three gaming generations. The game's longevity has also been extended by Grand Theft Auto: Online which turns Los Santos into a multiplayer playground where gamers can build up criminal empires and cause urban mayhem with players from around the world.
Although GTA 5's success has benefited Rockstar and gamers in several ways, some negatives have come with it, too. Most notably, GTA 5's profitability has greatly pushed back the release of the next entry in the GTA series, causing many to grow fatigued by Los Santos, no matter how impressively detailed it is. Furthermore, the high bar set by GTA 5 may have raised expectations to an unreasonable degree, leaving Rockstar in a position where only a flawless masterpiece will please gamers.
Grand Theft Auto 5's Legendary Success
It is difficult to overstate how impactful the Grand Theft Auto series has been. In a 2021 investor report, Take-Two Interactive revealed that the franchise had sold 350 million copies, and the bulk of those sales are from GTA 5 which has sold over 150 million units. This has translated into plenty of profits, as Take-Two reports that GTA 5 is not just the bestselling game in the USA in the past decade, but it also reached $1 billion in sales faster than any other entertainment product ever.
GTA 5 also brought Rockstar Grand Theft Auto: Online, a goose that has proven itself capable of laying an infinite number of golden eggs. Recognizing the profitability potential of GTA: Online, Rockstar has furnished it with regular updates since its release, with some of them featuring celebrities such as Dr. Dre. Rockstar makes plenty of money off GTA: Online through Shark Cards which can be purchased to gain in-game currency, and the monetization strategy has been recently expanded to include GTA+, a subscription service for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players. Subscribers get numerous monthly benefits, including GTA$500,000 monthly, special vehicle upgrades, members-only discounts, and many other perks.
The success of GTA 5 has allowed the game to, amazingly, survive for three gaming generations. It originally launched on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013, and although it was a technical marvel, it was clear that it was pushing the machines to their limits. Fortunately, remastered versions of the game were released for PS4 and Xbox One the following year, and the re-releases featured several welcome improvements including upgraded weather effects, better texture details, and increased draw distance. Most notably, the remastered introduced a first-person perspective, making GTA 5's often violent gameplay feel even more visceral. GTA 5 was ported to PC in 2015 and, in 2022, over eight years after its initial launch, it was remastered for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
GTA 5 Suffers From Success
Grand Theft Auto 5's long lifespan has been financially lucrative for Rockstar, but it may not have had the best impact on Rockstar's reputation. Although gamers appreciate GTA 5's impressiveness, for years there have been calls for the next entry in the GTA series. The demands are somewhat understandable, as this is the longest gamers have waited for a new GTA game, and the longest wait prior was the 5 years between GTA 4 and 5. The growing impatience has been seen, for instance, when Rockstar released a trailer for GTA 5's 2022 remaster, and it was met with a deluge of dislikes.
Part of the pushback is motivated by the fact that, while Los Santos may be a modern gaming marvel, after eight years, many gamers have grown bored with exploring it and are ready to move on to the next Grand Theft Auto adventure. However, with GTA: Online raking in as much money as it still is, and with the recent launch of GTA+, it seems that Rockstar is still keen on wringing Los Santos for all it is worth. While this may be profitable in the short term, only time will tell how this will affect Rockstar's relationship with gamers in the long term.
Perhaps the most ironic downside of GTA 5's success for Rockstar is the fact that it will take a generation-defining title for the studio to meet expectations that have been growing for almost a decade. When GTA5 hit stores, it achieved a Metacritic score of 97, making it one of the highest-rated games of all time on the site. The near-universal acclaim is not unwarranted, as the game takes everything that has made the GTA franchise phenomenal, and manages to crank it up to new heights while introducing a heap of new features, including the ability to seamlessly switch between three protagonists.
There are many years to go before the release of GTA 5's successor, and already the GTA 6 rumors surrounding the game are incredibly ambitious. Players are anticipating a game that jumps between time periods, features a complex police system, and takes place in an open world that changes dynamically. Although Rockstar has proven itself to be capable of great things numerous times, it will take its greatest work yet to satisfy gamers after GTA 5, and justify the long wait.
Few games have had as much of an impact as GTA 5, and its place in gaming will, for better or worse, be forever remembered. For three gaming generations, it has supplied Rockstar with a steady stream of sales and GTA: Online players, ensuring that the GTA series is one of the most profitable gaming franchises of all time. However, GTA 5 cannot live forever, and Rockstar is now faced with the monumental task of looking towards the future and hoping that GTA 5's heights are not peaks.
Grand Theft Auto 5 is available on PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
