The long-awaited sequel Grand Theft Auto VI is projected to generate a whopping $3 billion in revenue within its first year of sale. This is a far cry from what pretty much any other IP, both gaming or otherwise, could hope to come close to.
The greatly anticipated open-world game from Rockstar is currently slated to release in the fall of 2025, though there has been some debate if the game will see additional delay into 2026 with such expected profits giving the studio plenty of room to delay so they get this right. It will be released on PC at a later date, with Rockstar often taking an additional year to port to the platform, though no window for that release has been showcased yet.
A new report from the Financial Times, based on analysis by video game research group DFC Intelligence, has predicted that the title will exceed the $1 billion mark in pre-order sales alone before the game is even due out. Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to be the biggest launch of 2025, perhaps even beyond the likes of film or video games. This has been so well known that developers have admitted being unwilling to commit to a release date, for fear GTAVI announces they will release close.
DFC went on to say they predict that within the first 12 Months of sale, the game will reach $3.2 billion. In some context, the highest-grossing film of 2024, Inside Out 2 made a little under $1.7 billion. With even more context, Grand Theft Auto 5 cleared the $1 billion mark in just 3 days of sales, becoming the fastest to hit that number in the entertainment industry’s history.
In an interview with Finacial Times, the President of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Mark Strauss stated:
I never claim victory before it occurs. That said, I think Rockstar Games will once again deliver something absolutely phenomenal… Certainly the anticipation is high.
This being said, Finacial Times has also suggested that Grand Theft Auto VI has an astronomical budget attached to it. They have estimated the title has had anywhere from just shy of $1 billion to $2 billion spent on it in development costs. Last Year, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella additionally predicted this release might spark a renewed interest in the gaming industry, which has hit a plate in recent years, going further to say “There’s probably never been a more important thing to ever release in the industry, so no pressure.”
Additionally, many are looking at Grand Theft Auto VI to sell consoles, with sales of newer hardware having also moved slower than previous generations, due in part to popular titles like Fortnite being available across all hardware and not just on newer ones. Sony recently released the PlayStation 5 Pro which looks set to slightly edge out other places where Grand Theft Auto VI will be available, but expect players to by it wherever they can regardless. We saw a similar bump up in sales with the return of EA’s Collage Football, but this will be to a much higher degree. It is also expected that this game will feature an Online mode as well filled with microtransactions that PlayStation and Xbox will see profits on as well.
Financial Times additionally pointed out that we have seen a rough period for the gaming industry, with more than 33,000 jobs being cut since 2022. Microsoft and Sony both cut an extensive amount of jobs, with Take-Two also having several rounds of lay-offs. With all this, there is little wonder why all eyes are on Grand Theft Auto VI going into 2025.
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