‘GTA V’ Hit 100 Million Mark, But ‘RDR2’ Is On Track To Top It

As of Wednesday, there have been 100 million copies of Grand Theft Auto V sold, Take-Two Interactive recently announced. The game, released in 2013, still has a strong fan base. According to Variety, Take-Two added that the game’s multiplayer version, Grand Theft Auto Online, is exceeding expectations.

The game’s digital revenue was up overall from last year’s gains. Profits are up 73 percent from last year overall for Take-Two, primarily due to sales of GTA, NBA 2K18, and NBA 2K19. Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar Games, the developer of GTA and Red Dead Redemption 2. Sales of RDR2, which debuted just last month, are “nothing short of miraculous,” said Take-Two’s Strauss Zelick. However, he declined to compare its sales figures to GTA V, which has been on the market for five years.

“I don’t know if we would want to compare anything to GTA V or Online,” Zelick said.

“It stands alone as a standard-bearer for our games and the industry.”

RDR2 has already earned $725 million in worldwide sales in the first three days it was on the market, according to CNBC. Take-Two called it “the single-biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment.”

In that statement, the company took into account the opening weekend of the movie Avengers: Infinity War, which had a gross revenue of $640 million in its first three days. But in terms of sales, RDR2 still stands second to GTA V, which earned over $1 billion in sales in the first three days after it was released.

Rockstar added that the online world of Red Dead Redemption 2 will be available to play this month. The game may feature pay-for-play options once the online mode is open to players, a mechanic that has helped drive profits for GTA V.

The addition of an online world could boost sales of the game this month, and lead to GTA-like sales figures in the years to come. Rockstar’s developers have said that many of the options that are popular with players in GTA Online will be present in Red Dead’s online world, including group heist dynamics. YouTube leakers have said that RDR2’s online version will include deathmatch modes, another popular feature taken from GTA Online.

Rockstar has yet to release a specific date for Red Dead Redemption 2’s online version. On their official website, Rockstar says that “Red Dead Online is planned for launch in November 2018, initially as a public beta, with more news to come soon.”

Their description of Red Dead Online says it is an “evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways.” The blurb also adds that the online version will use Red Dead Redemption 2’s gameplay as a foundation, and notes that Red Dead Online “will be ready to be explored alone or with friends, and will also feature constant updates and adjustments to grow and evolve this experience for all players.”