GTA 5 has sold more copies than the 7th most populated country in the world

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has revealed how many units of Grand Theft Auto 5 have been sold over its 12-year lifespan.

GTA 5 has sold more copies than the 7th most populated country in the world
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Tech and Science Editor
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TL;DR: Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 220 million units, maintaining strong revenue despite Grand Theft Auto 6's second delay to November 2026. Meanwhile, Rockstar faces internal unrest and protests over veteran layoffs amid unionization disputes. GTA Online and GTA+ continue growing steadily.

On the heels of Grand Theft Auto 6 being officially delayed for a second time, Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has revealed Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to be an endless money cow for the publisher, with the twelve-year-old title now having sold more than 200 million units.

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Rockstar Games officially announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 is being delayed to November 19, 2026, from its initial May 25, 2026, release date. The delay of GTA 6 marks the second time the title has been officially delayed from its announced release date.

The delay comes at a time when Rockstar is currently experiencing internal pushback from developers, with one anonymous developer revealing in a post on the GTAForums that morale at the studio has reached "rock bottom" following Rockstar's laying off several veteran developers in what the developers say is an effort to break up unionization.

Despite the GTA 6 delay and potential discord occurring at Rockstar, the publisher of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Take-Two Interactive, recently revealed how successful Grand Theft Auto 5 has become over its lifespan. According to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, GTA 5 has sold more than 220 million units, which is more than the estimated population of Brazil, the world's seventh most populous country. And that is just what Brazil has on the books, with the number likely being far higher.

"We continue to supply content to GTA Online, and in fact we've had terrific results there. And GTA+ continues to grow its membership. In fact, it's had 20 percent growth year-over-year. And GTA 5 has sold in more than 220 million units," said Zelnick

While Zelnick is revealing how many units GTA 5 has sold, protests have erupted out the front of Take-Two's office in the UK, as well as Rockstar Games, with employees claiming the developer fired veteran employees to squash an emerging union. Rockstar said the employees were fired for leaking confidential information. However, the developers dispute that claim.