GTA 5: How does Rockstar Games’ game stay top 8 years after release?

Today, Grand Theft Auto V is no longer just a gigantic open-world awarded by the press and acclaimed by the players, it is also astronomical figures and records by the dozen. During 2018, gaming becomes the highest grossing entertainment product of all time ; he alone had recorded nearly $ 6 billion in revenue while the film Avatar by James Cameron got away with “only” a total of $ 2.8 billion. At the end of the same year, this fifth opus becomes the second video game to cross the 100 million sales mark (the first being Minecraft). In 2019, production counts more than 523 million hours viewed on Twitch and as of December 31, 2020, the title sells a total of 140 million copies worldwide. As you can see, the success of the game first released in 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is insatiable and it is not going to end anytime soon. The game is about to be released on November 11, 2021 on next-gen consoles (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X | S) with some new features, which, no doubt, will attract new fans. But how to explain such success?

A more than generous Solo, an Online which is constantly reinventing itself

The now unavoidable saga has always been talked about. From 1997, date of launch of the first opus, the series attracted the wrath of indignant parents and upset politicians by offering players to be in the boots of an anti-hero located on the wrong side of the fence. The latter can as well fulfill contracts for ill-spirited gang leaders or spill blood in the streets of the city in total freedom. Obviously, it is above all this second point that has multiplied the controversy, but it is also what seduced the players. It must be said that being able to do anything and everything in a gigantic metropolis is a rather tempting program. It is also this concept that the Houser brothers, the fathers of the series, have decided to develop over the years and productions until reaching a climax in 2004 with the arrival of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an episode which, even today, continues to seduce a new audience. In San Andreas, anything is possible: ride around town on a bike or in a vehicle, customize it, play gambling games, get involved in gang wars, participate in car races, invest in an apartment. , shopping, weight training, basketball and so on. In order to reiterate the success of San Andreas, Rockstar Games, with Grand Theft Auto V, choose to push this slider even further.

The fifth episode of this flagship saga was delivered in 2013 with a Solo with substantial content. In addition to a long main story revealing three charismatic playable characters and finely studied to suit newcomers as well as early fans (Franklin still has a little air of CJ, the hero of San Andreas), the title reveals almost infinite possibilities. We thus find all that makes the charm of the episode of 2004, that is to say a great freedom, a gigantic map and activities in shambles. Now, in addition to being able to freely visit a Los Angeles (renamed for the occasion Los Santos) larger than life, it is also possible to explore the seabed, play tennis and even practice golf. All these attributes made GTA V a great game that could already occupy players for hundreds of hours, but that was without counting on the arrival of a multiplayer mode.

Launched two weeks after the initial release of Grand Theft Auto V, this multiplayer mode titled Grand Theft Auto: Online achieves the feat of transposing the GTA recipe in an ever-changing world where many players (16 players on seventh generation consoles, then 30 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) can do anything they can think of. Climb the highest mountain in Los Santos then hurtle down it at full speed in motocross, parachute jumping, contemplate the Californian city from the top of the Ferris wheel, customize your car, rob a shop, steal a submarine … all this is possible. You have understood it, here, the players have for only limit their imagination. It is surely for this reason that aficionados keep coming back to explore this virtual world which promises completely different experiences from one session to another. But even the most ingenious end up getting bored. This is where regular updates come in.

The first few months, the gaming experience lacked content, but quickly, in order to ensure the loyalty of its community, Rockstar Games is enriching its offer by unveiling new possibilities such as being able to organize your own robberies or even create illegal businesses with friends. The months have passed and the Online mode of Grand Theft Auto V has even ended up offering yachts, a casino or a brand new island located southeast of Los Santos. This last major update, which saw the light of day at the end of last year, includes new missions, additional weapons and vehicles, including a heavily armed submarine, and a set of 100 new songs to punctuate your walks. nocturnal at the wheel of a beautiful Italian.

Mods, do you want some? Here’s !

Like Bethesda and its The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Rockstar Games is not solely responsible for the success of its game. With the launch of Grand Theft Auto V on PC in 2015, players have made the title their own by enriching it with new content through modding (action which consists in modifying or adding elements not foreseen by the developers in a game). This results in the arrival of a hundred mods, each one crazier than the other. Some offer you to take control of the Iron Man HulkBuster, while others modify the make of the cars to add a little extra touch of realism, dramatically increase the number of outfits or even add the animations of our trio of hero. More courageous modders have gone even further by completely modifying the visual aspect of the software or by offering Role Play servers. Of course, it is these servers that today contribute to the longevity of the game.

These unofficial servers – allowing you to entirely create your character (physique, character, profession) and to embody it to perfection – accentuated the social dimension of the production and gave a little youthful touch to an aging recipe. At first, used by a handful of video game insiders, GTA V RP, thanks to its delirious concept and popular streamers that lingered on the subject, quickly gained popularity and surpassed the master. An increase in attendance was felt during the year 2019, but it was only last April that the phenomenon exploded. On that date, the Role Play mod recorded a peak of 250,000 players on Steam, greatly exceeding the initial game which was satisfied with a peak of 124,000 players over the same period.

But ultimately, what favors this success, it is perhaps quite simply the arrival of new generations of players (the game is almost 10 years old), but also the absence of direct competitors on the market. In the days of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or rather the PlayStation 2, Xbox era, many open-worlds were accessible. We remember the Just Cause saga which today no longer manages to surprise, True Crime which initially offers you to evolve in a gigantic Los Angeles then, in a second time, in a reconstituted New York, Saints Row or even The Getaway… Today, if it is not the Watch Dogs series which does not really play in the same court, Grand Theft Auto V has no equivalent and it could even be that this so until the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI which, according to the latest rumors, could see the light of day between 2024 and 2025.

The reasons for this success are obviously multiple. The first and most obvious is that Grand Theft Auto V is a great game that is packed with content and possibilities for solo gamers. Its evolving and unique multiplayer mode is not to be outdone since it has retained its audience over the long term by constantly unveiling new features. And the arrival of the PC version, monopolized by budding modders, ended up accentuating even more the popularity of the title which crosses with disconcerting ease the different generations of consoles.