‘GTA 5’ and ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ posted record sales in 2019

Most gamers have probably played “GTA 5” and “Red Dead Redemption 2.” Indeed, the two Rockstar Games titles are extremely popular and have been raking in cash since their respective releases a few years back.

Take-Two Interactive finally revealed the numbers to show just how successful “GTA 5” and “Red Dead Redemption 2” are. The publisher and videogame holding firm said that combined, total sales for the two titles have already reached 150 million copies.

Take-Two Interactive reported in its quarterly earnings call that “GTA 5” sales exceeded expectations. Despite the title entering its seventh year, it still managed to sell 20 million copies last year pushing its lifetime sales to more than 120 million, PC Gamer reported.

“GTA 5” was released in 2013 and made its way to the console in 2014. By 2019, one would think that anybody interested in the game would have already bought a copy by then. This makes last year’s sudden uptick in sales even more surprising.

Since its launch, the game sold an average of around 15 million copies annually. But that figure surged to 20 million copies in 2019, making it the game’s most successful year ever, according to Polygon.

There are a number of factors that made 2019 a banner year for “GTA 5.” There have been a number of fresh content for the “Grand Theft Auto Online” which kept people coming back into the game and even managed to lure in a substantial number of newcomers into the game.

For instance, the “Diamond Casino & Resort” added new activities and several missions. Then, there was also the “Diamond Casino Heist,” said to be the most complex Heist mission ever.

In addition, a number of Streamers like Shroud, Summit1g, TimTheTatman, and Lirik joined in on the fray which heightened the game’s popularity more than ever. The title has also become more affordable as the Steam price dropped the title’s price from around $50 to $29.99. There were even instances where the game sold to as low as $14.99, which probably convinced some budget-conscious games to take the plunge.

Meanwhile, “Red Dead Redemption 2” has been raking in cash as well, though not as much as the high-performing “GTA 5.” The action-adventure title was released in 2018 but has managed to sell more than 29 million copies, which is already nearly double the sales of its predecessor. What’s interesting to note is that “Red Dead Online” seems to be gaining momentum, though it’s too early to tell at the moment if it will eventually reach the same level of success as the “GTA Online.”