Take-Two, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto 6, held an earnings call on Thursday — and boy, was it full of news. After reaffirming GTA 6‘s planned Nov. 19 release date, Take-Two spent much of the call boasting about how much cash the Grand Theft Auto franchise rakes in. Even without specific figures, you probably already assumed GTA games are moneymakers. Take-Two also explained where that profit actually comes from — and the info might shift your expectation for what GTA 6‘s monetization could look like.
According to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, sales of Grand Theft Auto 5 are still going strong even 13 years later: GTA 5 has sold 225 million copies, Zelnick said. Consumer spending grew overall for all of Take-Two’s big properties, and about 27% of that growth came from GTA Online specifically. Some of that growth undoubtedly comes from the GTA Online microtransactions that players use to buy in-game cars and properties. A notable portion of those proceeds, however, come from subscriptions.
“GTA+ continues to thrive, with membership levels nearly doubling over the same period last year,” Zelnick said.
To think people were skeptical of the subscription announcement back in 2022! At the time, most people hoped that the service wouldn’t be embraced. Later on, the consensus around the GTA+ service was that it was skippable, if not useless. “Don’t buy this slop you’ll make these same rewards in no time even as a casual player,” one GTA Online fan wrote in 2025.
So far, it seems like the release of GTA 6 won’t prevent continued support of GTA Online. Rockstar has already announced some exciting partnerships for the quasi-MMO that make it sound like the multiplayer game might get a big upgrade once GTA 6 rolls around.
