soThese are only estimates, but they are already dizzying: Grand Theft Auto 6 expected to generate the impressive sum of 3 billion dollars during its first year of sale.
Rockstar Games' highly anticipated open-world blockbuster is set to release in fall 2025 on PlayStation 5 et Xbox Series X/S. No PC release has been announced yet.
This data comes to us from analyzes by the video game research group DFC Intelligence. DFC also expects that total revenues for the first 12 months of sales of GTA VI will reach the stratospheric figure of $3.2 billion.
To put all this in perspective, know that the most profitable film of 2024, Vice Versa 2grossed just under $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office. We also remember that in 2013, it took just three days for GTA V to exceed $1 billion in sales – the fastest sales record in entertainment history.
Strauss Zelnickboss of Rockstar's parent company, Take-Twotold the Financial Times: “I never claim victory before it happens. That said, I think Rockstar Games will once again deliver something absolutely phenomenal… The anticipation is obviously immense.”
GTA VI's massive revenue projections, however, come up against equally gigantic development costs, which the Financial Times estimates to be between hundreds of millions and $2 billion. The weight weighing on the shoulders of the game is therefore enormous and the stakes for Take-Two and Rockstar Games are real.
In March last year, the analyst of Circa, Mat Piscatellapredicted that Rockstar's sure-fire success would also spark a global “resurgence of interest” in video games. She even went further, stating that “there has probably never been a more important release than this in the history of the industry.” So no pressure.
GTA VI is indeed the kind of game that will definitely sell consoles in droves. There PS5 Pro from Sony will also undoubtedly benefit from the interest aroused by the game. Let's remember: the next Grand Theft Auto will not be released on PC at launch and to play it you must own either a PlayStation or Xbox.
And beyond the potential sales figures of the base game, the equivalent GTA Online of GTA 6 will also probably be filled with microtransactions, like the current GTA Online. Microsoft and Sony will of course receive their share of any money spent on this medium. A sum which again promises to be gargantuan.
As the Financial Times points out, the almost guaranteed success of GTA VI paradoxically comes in the middle of one of the most delicate periods in recent history for the video game industry. It is true that more than 33,000 people have lost their jobs since 2022, with significant layoffs at Microsoft and Sony. Take-Two itself has suffered mass layoffs and studio closures.
All eyes are therefore on Rockstar. Developers and players alike, we are all waiting for confirmation of a definitive release date for GTA VI in 2025 or, as some predict, a postponement until 2026. In addition, also waiting for a second trailer, well other questions are pending: will GTA VI arrive on PC? Will PS5 Pro run the game at 60 frames per second. Wait and see as they say…
Wesley is News Editor at IGN UK.
