Connecting the dots: Grand Theft Auto VI, easily the most anticipated game of the past decade, is also one of the few major upcoming titles without a PC release date. In a recent interview, the head of the game's publisher stressed the franchise's focus on consoles, but recently leaked data suggests the real reason might be that PC users generate by far the least revenue among all platforms.
When Bloomberg recently asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick why the company has not yet discussed a PC version of GTA 6, he emphasized the importance of focusing on the company's "core" users. The comments imply that Take-Two still views the PC as a secondary market. Despite this, Zelnick acknowledged that the platform is gaining prominence.
During the interview, the CEO admitted that PC users can represent 45% to 50% of sales for certain titles. The figures signify a fundamental shift since Zelnick joined Take-Two in 2007, when the PC version of NBA 2K made up only 5% of sales.
The CEO also told CNBC last year that PC and mobile are growing faster than consoles. Despite this, he remains tight-lipped about plans for a PC version of GTA 6. While other development studios have shifted over the years to releasing games on PC and consoles simultaneously, Zelnick noted how GTA development studio Rockstar has resisted the trend.
However, a recent data breach may have also revealed what makes console users Take-Two's "core": they generate almost all of Grand Theft Auto Online's revenue.
When Rockstar ignored last month's ransom attempt from hacker group ShinyHunters, the group leaked some of the company's analytics data. The information revealed, among other things, weekly active user counts and estimated revenue from GTA 5's online mode on each platform.
PlayStation 5 dwarfs all other platforms with an estimated 3,474,021 WAU and $4,486,346 in active bookings. The second-highest platform, PlayStation 4, has approximately 1,889,729 WAU and $973,308 bookings. PC is last with around 894,621 WAU and $264,273 in bookings, or around one-quarter and one-twentieth of the PS5 totals.
To put the figures into perspective, PlayStation 5 accounts for 41% of GTA Online's WAU and 53% of the game's bookings, while PC accounts for only 11% and 3%, respectively. Furthermore, while PlayStation 5 generates around $1.29 per user per week, PC generates only $0.30.
GTA 5 has sold 225 million copies, making it the second best-selling game in history, behind only Minecraft, but microtransactions and subscriptions from GTA Online have become the game's main revenue driver. While analysts expect GTA 6 to sell approximately 25 million units on day one and might consider 10 million – a number almost no other game can dream of – to be a failure, the active GTA Online player count is likely the number Take-Two is really concerned about.
After suffering two delays, Grand Theft Auto VI is set to launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles on November 19. The PC release date remains undisclosed.