THE MOST PROFITABLE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCT EVER!

How much do you think the most profitable movie ever created made – it's Avatar by the way – worldwide? 2.7 billion (USD), not too shabby hey?

Now, think about games. GTA 5 has beaten out some of the most profitable books, and movies. The game originally came out four and a half years ago (yes, it's been that long!) and it's hung out on just about every top-seller chart since. No matter the platform, the game is still among the most popular. On the Steam Global Best-seller list, for example, it occupies spot 10.

So how much money has GTA 5 made... well, over 6 billion (USD), and there is no sign of stopping either. After already selling 90 million units in its lifetime, it's on spot three of the all-time highest-selling list of video games. The two games in front are Minecraft, which sold some 144 million and Tetris, which has sold about 170 million.

Oh, and since it’ll likely come up: MMO’s like World of Warcraft have made more – some of them exceeding 10 billion USD. However, subscription-based games are a different animal entirely, and with so many expansions, versions etc to go on, it’s hard to pinpoint how much the original made. That is a pretty solid ranking, given how much more expensive GTA 5 is compared to other games, it is no wonder it is so profitable.

Doug Creutz, an analyst for Cowen said: "Since its launch in 2013, GTA 5 has sold 90 million units, putting its total haul for publisher Take-Two Interactive in the neighbourhood of $6 billion, far above the success of blockbuster movies like Star Wars or Gone With The Wind, which both collected more than $3 billion, adjusted for inflation. Even taking into account DVD and streaming sales would not put the biggest movie blockbusters in GTA 5’s neighbourhood."

So what does all this mean to gamers?

It means that GTA 6 is still a long, long way off. While GTA 5 keeps spitting money at the makers, there is no point in making a new one.

However, GTA 5‘s dominance may come to an end in the near future, due to a shift in priority from Rockstar itself. The developer is releasing Red Dead Redemption 2 later this year and, should the game prove as popular at launch as the studio’s last effort, it will no doubt go on to become a major force in the industry. However, Rockstar would be wise to maintain GTA 5 for some time, as there may well be some life in the old dog yet.