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Nearly 235 million, and still adding about 15 million a year
Take-Two said on 9 November 2026 that Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) has sold nearly 235 million units, up from nearly 29 million six weeks after its September 2013 launch. It is still selling: about 15 to 20 million a year from 2015, and about 15 million in the 12 months before GTA 6. The '20 million in 2020' headline is CNBC's number, not Take-Two's.
The line kept rising. The totals do not say why.
Continue reading below for the full detailed article →
Overview
GTA 6 is scheduled for 19 November 2026, 13 years and 2 months after its predecessor. Across that wait Take-Two kept restating one number, the lifetime units of Grand Theft Auto V, in releases, prepared remarks and investor slides. Together they form a rare thing: one game's sales curve, in its publisher's own words, from launch to the eve of its sequel. Each point is a rounded milestone, so every figure is a floor or a ceiling, and the post reads them as steps.
The total, the latest year and the first six weeks.
235M
On its 9 November 2026 earnings call, Take-Two said Grand Theft Auto V has sold nearly 235 million units worldwide. That is a ceiling, a few million above August's over 230 million, and the first in prepared remarks to say 'sold' rather than 'sold-in'. Take-Two does not say whether that is a new definition.
15M
Take-Two stated more than 220 million on 6 November 2025 and nearly 235 million on 9 November 2026, so the total rose by about 15 million in the 12 months before GTA 6. The subtraction is ours. One end is a floor and the other a ceiling, so the true gain is at most 15 million.
29M
Take-Two's 29 October 2013 release said GTA 5 had already sold-in nearly 29 million units, 42 days after the 17 September launch and more than Grand Theft Auto IV's lifetime sell-in on console. The same release gave over $800 million in retail sales in 24 hours. That is dollars, not units, so it stays out of the chart.
The Launch
Grand Theft Auto V reached PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 17 September 2013. Take-Two's 29 October release said it had 'already sold-in nearly 29 million units', more than Grand Theft Auto IV's lifetime sell-in on console.
Take-Two called it 'the fastest-selling entertainment release in history', citing dollars, not units: over $800 million in retail sales in 24 hours and over $1 billion in three days. Neither is in the chart.
Then the line stalled. The total was more than 32.5 million on 3 February 2014 and more than 33 million on 13 May 2014: 0.5 million in 99 days, the only sharp slowdown in the record. The next statement, on 3 February 2015, was 12 million higher. The PS4 and Xbox One versions arrived on 18 November 2014, but no figure falls inside those 266 days, so the recovery cannot be dated.
The Re-Releases
The 3 February 2015 release gave more than 45 million units on console, including nearly 10 million on PS4 and Xbox One, 12 million above the previous statement. The PC version followed on 14 April 2015, after two earlier planned dates. The 18 May 2015 release said nearly 52 million across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.
PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions launched on 15 March 2022 alongside a standalone GTA Online, after Take-Two moved the date from 11 November 2021. By its 16 May 2022 remarks the title had 'sold-in more than 165 million units', five million above February.
These are dates beside a line, not causes. Take-Two's own explanation, repeated on 9 November 2026, is that the game 'continued to expand its audience'. None of the statements behind this chart ties a step in the total to a release.
The Plateau
February to February, the total added 15 million in 2015 to 2016 (45 to 60). The chart has no February statement in 2017, 2018 or 2019, so the four years to February 2020 (60 to more than 120) average 15 million a year. After that the run is complete: 20, 20, 15, 20, 15 and 15 million for the years to February 2021 through 2026.
Five-year averages agree: 80 million from February 2016 to 2021, about 16 million a year, and 85 million to February 2026, about 17 million. At a rounding grain of 5 million, a gap of one is not a finding.
That puts 2020 in scale. CNBC reported on 9 February 2021 that GTA 5 'sold about 20 million units in 2020', crediting Take-Two's earnings reports. The CEO's words on the 8 February 2021 call were that 'in calendar 2020, more copies of Grand Theft Auto V were sold than in any other year except for 2013', with no number attached.
Take-Two's cumulative figures give about 20 million from February 2020 (more than 120 million) to February 2021 (over 140 million), but rounding to 5 million makes 15 to 25 million the honest band, and the years to February 2022 and 2024 were also 20 million. 2020 sits on the plateau, not above it.
What the Number Counts
Through August 2026 the figures say 'sold-in' or 'sold in', bar one garbled transcript line: copies shipped to retailers and storefronts, not copies confirmed in players' hands. On 9 November 2026 the remarks say the title 'has sold nearly 235 million units'. The deck drops 'sold-in' for every title, so it reads as wording, not a new count, though Take-Two does not say so.
'Over' and 'more than' are floors with no upper bound; 'nearly' and 'approaching' are ceilings. From May 2021 every figure is rounded to 5 million. The 10-K for the year to March 2026 said over 225 million in the week the remarks said nearly 230 million, so the chart follows the remarks and calls.
What the total includes is the bigger gap. Take-Two never says whether it counts the free Epic Games Store copies of mid-May 2020, Game Pass or PlayStation Plus copies, the Premium Edition or the standalone GTA Online sold from March 2022. The CEO said only that the Epic offer 'did not come at the expense of paid sales'. None is shown to drive the plateau.
The Series
On 9 November 2026 Take-Two put the whole Grand Theft Auto franchise at nearly 480 million units, so GTA 5's nearly 235 million is about half. That divides two 'nearly' figures, so it is only 'about half'.
The totals grew at different rates. From 18 May 2021 to 21 May 2026 the series rose about 125 million (over 345 to over 470) and GTA 5 about 85 million (more than 145 to nearly 230). Take-Two does not say what makes up the other 40 million.
The Full Data Table
All 44 lifetime totals behind the chart, with Take-Two's own qualifier and verb, and the gain since the previous statement.
| 29 Oct 2013 | Nearly 29 million | - | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 3 Feb 2014 | More than 32.5 million | +3.5 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 13 May 2014 | More than 33 million | +0.5 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 3 Feb 2015 | More than 45 million | +12 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 18 May 2015 | Nearly 52 million | +7 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 10 Aug 2015 | Over 54 million | +2 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 3 Feb 2016 | Over 60 million | +6 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 6 Sep 2016 | Over 65 million | +5 | sold-in | Investor deck |
| 16 Aug 2017 | Over 80 million | +15 | sold-in | Investor deck |
| 7 Nov 2017 | More than 85 million | +5 | sold in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 16 May 2018 | 95 million | +10 | sold (transcript prints 'old') | Earnings call |
| 2 Aug 2018 | Approaching 100 million | +5 | sold-in | Earnings release (8-K) |
| 7 Nov 2018 | More than 100 million | 0 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 13 May 2019 | Almost 110 million | +10 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 5 Aug 2019 | More than 110 million | 0 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 7 Nov 2019 | More than 115 million | +5 | sold-in | Earnings call |
| 6 Feb 2020 | More than 120 million | +5 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 20 May 2020 | Over 130 million | +10 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 3 Aug 2020 | Nearly 135 million | +5 | sold in | Earnings call |
| 5 Nov 2020 | Over 135 million | 0 | sold in | Earnings call |
Showing 1-20 of 44
Added is our subtraction of two rounded figures, so a 5 is one rounding step, not a measured month. Not listed: 10-K and proxy figures, four outlet-only figures from 2016 to 2018 and a repeat of 54 million in an 18 August 2015 deck. The 3 August 2020 row uses the prepared remarks ('nearly 135 million'); the same call's Q&A said 'over 135 million'. The 9 November 2026 row is the only prepared-remarks figure that says 'sold' rather than 'sold-in'; the 16 May 2018 transcript line prints 'old'. Source: Take-Two Interactive earnings releases, prepared remarks, investor decks and call transcripts.
What Comes Next
GTA 5 launched on 17 September 2013 and GTA 6 is scheduled for 19 November 2026, a gap of 13 years and 2 months. The sequel slipped twice: on 2 May 2025 from fall 2025 to 26 May 2026, and on 6 November 2025 to 19 November 2026.
The curve did not wait. The total was over 215 million in May 2025, more than 220 million in November 2025 and nearly 235 million in November 2026. In the 9 November 2026 remarks Zelnick said pre-orders for GTA 6 'are tracking far in excess of our initial expectations'; no number is given.
The next test is Take-Two's next report, due after the launch: whether the 'sold' wording stays, whether a GTA 5 figure appears at all and whether the yearly gain stays near 15 million.
Take-Two Interactive investor relations
Every figure is Take-Two Interactive's own, from its SEC-filed earnings releases, the prepared remarks and investor decks on its investor relations site and call transcripts for figures only spoken, all read on 11 November 2026. No estimate sites or sales trackers were used.
Our own arithmetic is marked where it appears: units added between statements, the February-to-February gains, the five-year averages, the latest 12 months, GTA 5's share of the series and the 125 million against 85 million comparison.
FactsFigs reviews, cleans and cross-checks every source dataset before shaping it into a data story. Each visualization is created and designed in FactsFigs Design Studio - an internal tool developed and owned by FactsFigs - and is the original work of a FactsFigs author, not an AI-generated copy of any existing graphic. Individual assets within a visual may or may not be produced with AI tools, but the design of the visual itself is solely FactsFigs' own.
Game artwork and screenshots in the visual are from Wikipedia and remain the property of Rockstar Games. Figures are estimates at the time of publication, provided for information only - nothing here is financial advice or a guarantee of accuracy.
Last verified: 12 Nov 2026
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