230 Million Copies Later, GTA 5's Decade-Long Reign Raises the Bar for Its Successor
Written by the GTA6 Resources team
A game released in 2013 is still pulling millions of weekly players in 2026 -- and that staying power is exactly what GTA 6 now has to live up to.
IGN published a retrospective this week examining how GTA 5 became one of the best-selling and most enduring games ever made, having sold over 230 million copies and still drawing millions of active players every week more than a decade after launch. The piece frames the obvious question hanging over Rockstar's next release: can GTA 6 possibly replicate, let alone surpass, that kind of staying power?
It's a fair question to ask right now. GTA 5 wasn't just a hit at launch -- it became a platform, carried year after year by GTA Online, re-releases across multiple console generations, and a player base that simply never left. IGN's framing even includes a note of disbelief from people close to the game that it's still being played at this scale so long after release. That's an unusual bar for any sequel to clear, let alone one carrying as much hype and scrutiny as GTA 6.
For readers following GTA 6 coverage, this context matters beyond nostalgia. Take-Two has already confirmed that GTA 5's existing online multiplayer won't be shelved once the sequel arrives, meaning Rockstar is essentially planning to run both games in parallel rather than retire the one that built its empire. That decision only makes sense in light of numbers like these -- GTA 5 isn't a legacy product fans are nostalgic for, it's still an active, profitable ecosystem that Rockstar has little incentive to shut off.
It also puts some of the recent speculation about GTA 6's online mode into perspective. Reports pointing to 2027 as a likely target for GTA 6 Online suggest Rockstar may be deliberately avoiding a repeat of past transitions, giving GTA 5 Online more runway rather than cannibalizing its player base immediately. If GTA 5 can still pull in millions weekly in year thirteen, there's clearly no rush to pull the plug.
None of this guarantees GTA 6 will match or exceed its predecessor's numbers -- that's a question IGN's piece raises rather than answers. But it does help explain why expectations around GTA 6, from presale gaps between console makers to merchandise controversies to endless leak speculation, have reached the fever pitch they have. Rockstar isn't just releasing a new game; it's trying to follow up one of the most commercially dominant products in entertainment history.
