It’s been 10 years since Grand Theft Auto V was released but its popularity has never slowed.
After a whole decade on the market, it remains one of the greatest videogames of all time.
The huge budget action-adventure game from Rockstar, released on 17 September 2013, follows three protagonists – bank robber Michael De Santa, drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips and street gangster Franklin Clinton.
Gamers play as all three characters throughout the game and watch as their lives intertwine and secrets from their pasts are revealed.
The trio work together to pull off high-stakes heists and battle powerful criminals, as well as a corrupt government agency in the fictional city of Los Santos.
It’s likely you’ve played the game – since hundreds of millions of people have bought it – but did you know that it holds multiple Guinness World Records titles?
GTA V was named the best-selling videogame for PlayStation 3 (PS3) in April 2015, by which point it had sold 19.45 million copies. Today, the figure sits at 20.32 million.
And it was named the best-selling action-adventure videogame in 2014, renewing its record multiple times over the year.
It first took the record from a previous game in the series, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, by selling 35.94 million copies globally.
By February 2022, that sales figure had increased to 160 million. And it's continuing to sell, with that number since growing to 185 million.
The game set a record within its first day on sale, shifting 11.21 million units to become the best-selling videogame in 24 hours.
Even after the PS3 was phased out for PS4, the game retained its popularity.
In 2015, it was the most critically acclaimed PlayStation 4 videogame with a score of 96.33% on GameRankings. It's now tied with Red Dead Redemption 2 with a score of 97%.
GTA V was also the highest-rated videogame on eighth-generation consoles in 2015 after it became the highest-ranked game on both PS4 and Xbox One. This record is now also tied with RDR2.
And it’s no wonder when you consider the amount of excitement there was around it.
In addition to spanning generations of consoles, the game is beloved by generations of gamers, including Hamako Mori, the world's oldest gaming YouTuber.
"It's like watching a film. I like it the best because it has age restrictions, so children can't play it!" Hamako said.
Fans of the franchise waited five years after the release of Grand Theft Auto IV and watched a trailer for the newest game 23 million times in 2012 to earn it the record for most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame.
It had grown to 47 million views by 2017 and today, that video sits at 88 million views.
The game’s longevity and popularity could be, at least in part, down to the massive budget it had.
It earned the record for largest budget for a videogame in 2013 after Rockstar spent a staggering development and marketing budget of $276 million (£170 million).
That big budget certainly paid off though, as the game earned the highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours after making $815.7 million (£511.8 million) on its first day.
Just three days later, it became the fastest videogame to gross $1 billion.
The game was so sought-after that a gamer named Mike Julliard (Canada) launched a Change.org petition called “Rockstar: Release GTA V on PC” in 2014.
It garnered the most signatures for a videogame petition and was finally released on PC in April 2015.
The game is also famed for its soundtrack, with players able to skip between multiple radio stations while driving.
It has the record for most licensed songs in a GTA game with 777.
And in case you were wondering, the fastest Classic % completion of Grand Theft Auto V is 5 hours 42 minutes 31 seconds by gamer "UnNameD" (Poland).
To achieve this record, gamers are not allowed to speed up travel time by taking taxis and are not allowed to skip any failed missions.
How long did it take you to complete it?
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