Why are people still buying Grand Theft Auto V?

In a recent conference call to discuss its latest quarterly financial results, the games publisher Take Two provided some astonishing statistics about Grand Theft Auto V. According to the company’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, the open-world gangster adventure, originally released in 2013, has now sold more than 75m copies.

Not only that, but NPD Group sales data shows it was the sixth best-selling game across all formats in 2016. Three years after its release. If you look at the current UK games chart, GTA V is at number two, beaten only by Resident Evil 7, released last month. Why is this happening?

There are some obvious reasons. Grand Theft Auto V is the latest title in one of the most successful and acclaimed video game franchises of all time. The game drew hugely positive reviews for its vast, beautiful open-world environment, its engaging narrative, anarchic humour and its many sub-quests, side-missions and secrets which added life and longevity to the world. True, there were plenty of concerns about the game’s depiction of women, race and violence, but for many gamers, the thrill of exploring this gargantuan landscape of decadence and destruction outweighed any problematic undertones.

Shortly after the original release of GTA V, Rockstar launched GTA Online, a shared multiplayer mode, in which players competed against each for cash and kudos, while cruising the streets of Los Santos. After some technical problems, Rockstar succeeded in creating a highly interconnected take on classic online shooter and MMORPG play forms. There were missions, there were raids, there were crews and customisation options; players could drop in for a few minutes of chaos, or join much more organised gangs for whole weekends of team-based action.

The mode is free, but the implementation of in-game microtransactions has meant Rockstar is making money from its 10 million-or-so monthly active users. Meanwhile, a YouTube community grew up around the game, with skilled players pulling off ever more elaborate stunts to ever larger online audiences; and Rockstar has endorsed and supported this element, sharing videos and collaborating with the key stunt groups via its busy social media presence. The company has also supported GTA Online with regular updates, adding new quests, modes, vehicles, clothes and weapons to keep the novelty factor high.

In essence, GTA V – like Minecraft, like Roblox, like Counter Strike – has become a place to hang out, it is a venue, rather than a game. Unlike in previous hardware generations, when players simply bought sequels to experience favourite titles again, we’re now in an age where single iterations can be endlessly remodelled and reequipped for successive machines. Los Santos, in this way, behaves like a genuine city – its real estate torn down and re-modelled every few years to take advantage of new architectural ideas, new building technologies, new trends and fashions.

Grand Theft Auto Online: inside the Los Santos stunt scene

This all combines with a maturing video game audience. Nowadays, people are playing games into their forties and fifties; they have the money to buy new hardware, but they may not have the time or desire to seek out fresh gaming experiences. Updated versions of reliable staples are becoming more attractive. Of course, there’s always been a nostalgic element to gaming; right now we’re seeing ever greater numbers of Xbox 360 and PS3 titles cropping up on Sony and Microsoft’s current machines, while PC gaming site Good Old Games has built a strong business out of making classic titles easily available to new users. But that’s not quite what is going on with GTA V – it’s about millions of people who have found a broad enough experience that they’re just happy to keep having it.

What this situation most closely resembles is the endless repackaging and re-mastering of the music and film industries. For a lot of fans, there are a handful of albums and movies they will keep rebuying on every new platform that comes along. That might mean owning Jaws on video cassette, DVD, Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray, it might mean having Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours on vinyl, cassette, CD, SACD and finally – in a nicely circular consumer journey – 180g virgin vinyl. The point is, there are, in culture, certain titles that become important experiential/audiovisual benchmarks – they’re how people test and enjoy new hardware. Grand Theft Auto V is part of the first generation of games that are able – due to the way games are distributed and constantly updated these days – to be a part of that regenerative cultural phenomenon.

Perhaps this will be horrifying news for the creative minds at Rockstar North, who no doubt pride themselves on GTA’s subversive pretensions, but one reason why GTA V is still being played now is that it’s comfortable, it lasts, its components are consistently and reliably thrilling. GTA V is the dad rock of video games.