Despite a flurry of rumors, leaks, and speculation, Grand Theft Auto VI remains a relatively unknown quantity, with key questions remaining unanswered. When will it be released? How much will it cost? Will there be in-game crypto?
One aspect of GTA VI looks increasingly certain though; it is set to be one of – if not the – biggest releases in the history of gaming and also potentially in the recent history of entertainment.
This might sound like a spurious claim. Surely the release of the sixth installment of a game played by teenagers cannot be comparable to the release of a movie like Barbie or Oppenheimer, or going back further Star Wars?
The potential figures suggest otherwise. GTA V’s numbers are nothing short of staggering. The game sold a whopping 185 million copies and generated well over $6 billion in total revenue. Astonishingly, GTA V sold $815 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours of its release.
Roman Semiokhin, a serial entrepreneur and investor in gaming development and products, believes that while GTA V was a phenomenon in terms of revenue generation, GTA VI could be the most successful game in history: ‘GTA VI will send shockwaves through the gaming industry in terms of revenue. While it is very clear from the amount of time it has taken to develop that it will have attached to it significant cost, the final product will, through its iconography alone, achieve record-breaking sales across all platforms. The GTA franchise has a track record of knowing what gamers want and delivering every time. There is no doubt in my mind that GTA VI will beat its predecessor’s revenue grab of $6bn. It may even double it.’
To put that into context, this is more than double the revenue of Avatar – the world’s most profitable film – which, after being released in 2019, made $3 billion in revenue. It also dwarfs the revenue of older Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars or Gone With The Wind, which – after adjusting for inflation – also earned around $3 billion in revenue.
GTA V’s cultural influence should not be understated either. Although harder to gauge and harder still to remember, the release of the game was greeted by long queues at video game stores at midnight.
Further illustrating the game’s cultural resonance, fans keep on flocking back to it. Given that GTA V was released in 2013, which the Financial Times rightly termed ‘practically the Cretaceous period’ in gaming years, the game’s longevity is quite remarkable. GTA V had three next-gen re-releases, making it one of the few games to have been released for three successive console generations.
The popularity of Twitch and YouTube content about the game – particularly the online mode – further demonstrates the fanatism of its fans. Twitch streams about GTA V would regularly receive 11 millions hours of viewing per week during the game’s long peak.
Given this longstanding appeal of GTA V to fans, it is no surprise that there was huge excitement at the teasing comments made by Lainie Goldstein – the executive of GTA’s publisher Take-Two – at an investor conference in August this year, which suggested that the release of the game might be as imminent as late 2024.
If his comments that Take-Two is preparing for ‘record levels of operating performance’ in the next financial year, helped by a ‘significant inflection point’, were indeed a reference to the release of GTA VI, they should be regarded as a serious understatement.
According to Forbes, GTA VI is likely to be the fastest-selling game in history and beat the remarkable $1 billion that GTA V earnt in the first three days of its release. It is more than likely that from the outset, GTA VI will include the online version of the game, which gave GTA V such an impetus.
Given that we know so little about the actual gameplay of GTA VI, it is difficult to estimate the cultural significance of the latest edition of the game. However, fans of previous editions will attest that the game is far more sophisticated than people often assume.
The game is deeply satirical. GTA V took aim at social media and included a plethora of references to popular culture. In reference to Thelma and Louise, players that went to Raton Canyon at 7 PM would see two female figures driving off a cliff in a convertible.
The use of cryptocurrency in the game signals that this satire is set to continue in GTA VI, with many commentators hinting that the game will poke fun at the short-lived popularity of NFTs.
Whilst GTA V was often criticized as highlighting the negatives of video games, there is a chance that GTA VI might receive a better reception. The September 2022 leaks, which also led to considerable buzz about the release of the new game, showed that – for the first time – the game will have a female protagonist.
Perhaps more importantly, though, GTA VI should bring into the spotlight the importance of the gaming industry. The industry creates millions of jobs, leads to technological innovation, and provides entertainment for billions. Eleven or so years on from GTA V, GTA VI will once again demonstrate the central place of gaming in the entertainment industry.
Visit Roman Semiokhin’s website for further information about this topic: https://romansemiokhin.com