Grand Theft Auto 5 was first released way back in 2013, but today, it remains a massively popular game and still has no issues with topping sales charts around the world. Bizarrely, the game still picks up millions of sales despite never having been expanded on, so we’re looking at answering one all-important question today: why is GTA 5 still so popular?
The Never-Ending Popularity of GTA 5
It seems that Grand Theft Auto 5 is an unstoppable game, beating out new releases in sales charts with scary consistency. It refuses to quit – but more importantly, Rockstar Games refuses to allow it to quit. Since 2013, when the game first surfaced, Rockstar has failed to expand the base content available, but that hasn’t stopped fans from finding new ways to enjoy GTA 5.
However, that base game goes some way in explaining why GTA is still so popular, even today, a decade after it was released. It’s the quintessential Grand Theft Auto formula, fusing an open-world adventure with unbridled criminal action, humorous content, and a great, immersive story.
With GTA 5, the attention to detail is superb, and the open world feels lived-in, which helps in terms of immersion. Following countless updates and re-releases, GTA 5 looks and feels fantastic, and everything from the comedic AI behaviour to the dynamic weather systems somehow feels fresh even ten years after the game’s launch.
Even today, it seems that players are still uncovering new hidden details in the game, given the nearly endless opportunities for discoverability.
So, when asking ‘why is GTA 5 still so popular’, the base game itself is a great representation of why it still has such pulling power.
But GTA 5’s Popularity Goes Beyond That
Today, GTA 5 on Twitch continues to produce remarkable results, pulling in millions of viewers with ease. That’s almost entirely due to the game’s ‘role-playing’ community, with GTA RP being unbelievably successful as a concept and an ecosystem. It’s what has kept the game alive for so long, with players joining servers and becoming more immersed in the game than ever before.
Not only that but GTA 5 features an advanced modding community – which is something that ties in directly with the RP side of things. With modding, the lifecycle of a game can become an endless, sporadic adventure, with new constructs and concepts popping up all the time.
It definitely is thanks to GTA Online that GTA 5 still tops the charts. It’s a persistent, ever-changing world that Rockstar continues to update over time, regularly adding new content that expands what’s on offer. For the most part, players will wrap up the single-player mode and rarely look back, but GTA Online is forever.
And of course, let’s not forget that, at present, GTA 5 is the most current and up-to-date game in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It may seem like a sad fact for some, but it’s all that’s really available, especially considering Rockstar began shutting down the servers for the game’s predecessor, GTA IV, in 2021.
When Will GTA 5 Die?
Many people are wondering, is GTA 5 dying? Fortunately for Rockstar Games, there’s no sign that that’s happening anytime soon. According to Statista, Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold more than 175 million copies since launching in 2013, and on SteamCharts.com, there’s an average monthly player count on just that one platform that can easily reach as high as 110,000.
So, why is GTA 5 still so popular? It’s popular because it’s popular. It remains one of the best-performing games on social media and content creation platforms, but with all the rumours circulating about GTA 6 launching in 2024, it may not be long until GTA 5 is forced to submit the crown to its successor.
GTA 5 launched in 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but since then, it has been re-released on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
