We knew GTA was a massive brand but not like this. When you talk about Gran Turismo and add all the shipments, it comes at 68 million–which is quite impressive, but not as impressive as GTA which has shipped 125 million since its inception.
Analaysts are expecting GTA 5 to sell 20 million, which is totally possible, so expect the total sales to increase even more. Call of Duty picked up in popularity this generation and sells 20-25 million each installment, so such brands are really interesting because of how they are managed by their respective publishers.
GTA 4 has sold 25 million units, Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick told Gamespot.
“It’s our view that if you want intellectual properties to be permanent, then you run the risk in that circumstance of having consumers fall out of love with that franchise,” he said.
“That’s never been the case with one of ours. Ours do better each time. Our view is it’s hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualize it, with the exception of sports titles. So far that’s proven to be the case. IP that is annualized eventually seems to hit the wall and we don’t want our IP to hit the wall.”
GTA 5 will be released in Spring next year on the PS3 and Xbox 360.