During the Take-Two earnings call yesterday, CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that Grand Theft Auto V has now shipped over 75 million copies across all platforms since launch in September 2013. It was at 70 million as of November 2016.
“Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online continue to outperform our expectations as they have in every quarter since their release,” Zelnick said. He later added that Rockstar Games has “many more” updates planned for GTA Online, which saw a record number of players in December 2016.
Take-Two also said in the call that NBA 2K17 is nearing seven million copies shipped (up 10% over NBA 2K16), and they think it’s “poised to become our highest selling sports title ever.”
During the Q&A section of the call, numerous people asked about Red Dead Redemption 2. After revealing that Red Dead Redemption is “around 15 million units” lifetime right now, Zelnick talked about how he doesn’t think Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V’s online modes will compete with each other:
[…] I’m fond of saying entertainment is an unusual animal. And that entertainment properties don’t really compete with other entertainment properties and that you never need entertainment. Entertainment is something that you want to have, but it’s not a need to have. If nothing in the market appeals to you at some time, there’s no reason to go and get it. And if multiple things appeal to you, avid consumers will consume all of those things.
So, I don’t think there’s any competitive dynamic with any of our upcoming releases apart from the fact that our success is driven by quality. So, I think, the success of Red Dead, which is highly anticipated, will be driven by its quality. And I think the ongoing success of Grand Theft Auto Online is driven by its extraordinary quality.
Zelnick added that Rockstar will give details on Red Dead Redemption 2’s online experience “in due time.”
Red Dead Redemption 2 launches in fall 2017 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
[Source: Seeking Alpha]
