They have a nickname: The game that refuses to die. Rockstar’s open-world crime simulator entered a minimally 12-year shelf life-dubiously outdated, mind you-still selling like hotcakes after going on to push over 5 million copies in 2025. Say it again: 5 million! Just like that, in one year! In the same scenario where the 44th president was still in office.
How does this work? Well, word is that the players think it is because Rockstar never stopped cracking updates, with the game being available nearly everywhere (including on PC Game Pass), whereby GTA Online is one of the largest active multiplayer playgrounds. A player by the name of NorthCoastAsher describes it best: “GTA Online is the perfect example of how to run an online video game. Frequent updates, listening to player feedback, and always adding new things to do.”
To be very frank with you, it is being bought because it is simply that good. With distant GTA 6 on the horizon, the charm of Los Santos is just too powerful for players to ever abandon. Some say jokes that GTA V is almost “preinstalled in the human soul.”
The rest just don’t bend over backwards for them. Another group of gamers is holding Rockstar accountable for going on and prospering on an old horse that has been untethered from grazing through the better past decade. “Easy to boast when you re-release the same game across three generations of consoles and twice on PC,” one said. And yeah, great point: How many times can one game be resold before it just becomes a laughingstock?
But the facts speak for themselves. GTA V isn’t just surviving; it’s thriving. The huge number of players enjoying GTA Online has to weigh heavily on Rockstar’s mind as an incentive not to stop cashing.
Well, of course, the real question is… when is GTA 6 to be out? The hype is all too palpable, and the fans are getting restless. “We got GTA V before GTA 6,” cracked one fan, while another bluntly poured in, “You’re also never getting GTA VI.” That was harsh.
Up until now, Rockstar has maintained the perfect strategy to hold onto players, but ironically now the need for a new release has reached a critical level. Will GTA 6 finally come and overthrow its predecessor? Or shall GTA V soldier on as the immortal sovereign of the open-world genre?
What we all know is: Rockstar is laughing all the way to the bank. And honestly? They have earned every cent.
So, if you’re among the few who are yet to play through GTA V… what are you waiting for? The rest of the world is clearly not going anywhere.
