Gradual GTA Online Revenue Decline Expected by Take-Two Ahead of GTA 6 Release
Take-Two is preparing for GTA 6 while giving GTA 5 a grand send-off with new updates as it outperforms expectations as it nears its end.
In case you missed it, Take-Two Interactive released its Q2 2024 earnings report on Wednesday, where, among other things, it confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 is still on track for a fall 2025 release. However, one thing that others may have missed is Take-Two's acknowledgment that the end of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online is near.
As per the report, GTA 5 and GTA Online surpassed expectations with GTA 5 now selling over 205 million units worldwide, up from its previous number of copies sold. GTA Online also "outperformed" expectations, buoyed by a series of popular updates over the past quarter, including the Bottom Dollar Bounties update and Assault on ATT-16 mode.
The sustained revenue also reinforces the success of the quality-of-life updates late into the game's lifecycle, including the controversial BattlEye anti-cheat update, which it continues to refine albeit at the expense of Steam Deck and Linux players—Rockstar Games and Valve are reportedly working on a resolution.
While GTA Online and GTA 5 continues to remain popular with GTA+ seeing a 35% jump in year-over-year revenue, Take-Two is aware that GTA 5 won't last forever as evidenced by the flattening of the game's Recurrent Consumer Spending with a decline expected for the rest of the year.
To be fair, this was both expected and inevitable, but the thing that partially caused it is also a solution, and it is almost here. With GTA 6 close to launching, Rockstar is expected to start devoting fewer resources towards maintaining GTA Online in its current form.
However, where there's "bad" news, there's also good news. Take-Two continues to look forward to "record levels" of revenue growth over the next two fiscal years, with a lineup of upcoming new installments headlined by GTA 6.
With Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country, and Judas scheduled for the next two years, Take-Two has every right to look forward to a substantial financial jump even outside of the practically guaranteed bombastic success of the next Grand Theft Auto.
If it's any consolation, Rockstar appears to be saving GTA 5's best year for its last. It's fresh off a widely popular content update that brought players back to North Yankton. The winter update is expected to continue this trend.
GTA 5 will also be getting a much-needed upgrade on the PC with the release of Grand Theft Auto 5: Expanded and Enhanced two years after it was released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.
