GTA 5: Success Leads to Problems?
GTA 5 Insane Success
The hype about this game has been huge for months and when it finally got out, anyone could see the amazing hit it was. Take-Two announced that GTA 5 made $800 millions in the first 24h in retail stores. It includes both platforms ( Playstation 3 and Xbox 360) and sales all over the world, with exception of Japan and Brazil ( it hadn't been launched there yet).
Take-two said this was, “the highest first day retail sales of any title in the history of the company and the Grand Theft Auto series.”
Biggest release of all time
Grand Theft Auto has always been a successful franchise, even despite all the controversy around it. It's known as the most violent video game, but that didn't stop Take-two from getting the crown of biggest sale of all time to date. In the first three days, GTA 5, generated $1 billion in sales. Comparing to that, blockbusters like "Iron Man 3" only generated $372 millions in its first weekend around the globe.
This just goes to show that big budget video games can still dominate global markets. The cost of the creation of the game was no breeze either. They spent $265 million on it, but it certainly was worth it.
Take-two reaction
"All of us at Take-Two are thrilled with the initial response to Grand Theft Auto V,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. “Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves, setting the entertainment industry's new standard for creativity, innovation and excellence. Beginning at midnight on Monday, consumers around the world gathered in anticipation to be among the first to experience the evolution of this remarkable series. In North America alone, more than 8,300 stores opened their doors at midnight to welcome fans whose loyalty and enthusiasm were rewarded with what The New York Times called 'the most immersive spectacle in interactive entertainment'. We are incredibly proud of Rockstar Games' creative achievement and could not be more pleased with the success of this launch."
Evolution of Grand Theft Auto
What happened to this game series? The original wasn't much of a game and now they're dominating the global entertainment market.
The first one was released in 1997 and it didn't have much success. It was an average game with some controversial features, you could hijack cars and attack pedestrians. The graphics were lousy even for its time so it wasn't immersive at all. Still, it was fun and new and the media eyes were on them due to its violent nature.
The second one, GTA 2, was pretty much a copy of the first. Didn't have anything new, still an average game but once again caught the media's eyes.
In 2001, the game changed completely. They reinvented the series in a 3D manner for the new consoles. A game where you could do anything inside the city with beautiful graphics turned the game into an immersive world with lots of things to do, still with that fresh concept of being an outlaw. Won many "Game of the Year" awards and sold around 14.5 million copies. Shortly after, Rockstar developed GTA: Vice City, that sold around 17.5 million. And, in 2004, GTA: San Andreas reached the 27.5 million copies sold.
The New Generation
Despite the huge success they had developing 3 different games in such a short period (2001-2004). It wasn't over yet!
The New generation of consoles (PS 3, Xbox 360) arrival brought along new GTA series. Releasing the GTA 4, that broke the $500 millions in the first week. Graphics got better, the world got bigger, so the idea of open world turned into a better reality. At the time, GTA4 development costed $100 millions ( enormous budget at the time, 2007), but it paid off.
GTA Online: the problem
This new feature that many GTA players were anxious about is really killing the mood. Many players can't load or are disconnected continuously. As it seems one of them problems is the tutorial that make people crash, but Rockstar is trying to get everything in order as soon as possible.
They had already announced that plenty of issues were bound to happen. "We apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this."
The huge success they had in sales, unavoidably, affected their new feature. Rockstar already had announced, "One thing we are already aware of, and are trying to alleviate as fast as we can, is the ... additional pressure on the servers due to a significantly higher number of players than we were anticipating at this point."
And it's true. Their servers can't handle the stream of people that want to play it. A kind of slap caused by their success, but i'm sure they'll fix it as soon as possible.
Other entertainment industries
Music industry records and sales amount around $1.4 billion each month. With GTA 5 hitting the $1 billion mark in just three days, it looks ready to crush down the global music industry.
GTA 5, certainly, won't be the only video game to hit this kind of numbers. Many other franchises have huge successes like Activision's Call of Duty series. But it's obvious that high end market games are still an huge market. You won't see low development games like the Candy Crush series that is the hit that it is bring $1 billion home in a month.