Grand Theft Auto 5 isn't the "Biggest Selling Entertainment Product Ever", that's World of Warcraft

From GameWatcher: "Yesterday many news sites reported the astonishing news that Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 was now the most profitable entertainment product ever, earning more than any other game, movie, album or anything else in history. This is incorrect."

[lxeasy]

makes sense

[joab777]

Yep. Not bad for Rockstar’s first foray into the multiplayer seen though. Imagine GTA 6. I like to think they will connect the new city to the current one.

[Count_Bakula]

Can't stand how easy the spread of misinformation happens now

[Kavorklestein]

Already 18 school shootings this year!

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

But at the end of the day 1 is too many, isn't it?

[Kavorklestein]

Yes, 1 is too many, but that is not even CLOSE to the point I'm making.

Good lord.

[Tross]

@Kavorklestein And? How is that relevant to a discussion on game sales/profits? Oh, right, you're probably one of those fools who is quick to blame videogames rather than trying to actually understand why things like school shootings happen. Any scapegoat will do, right?

[Xristo]

His point is that people will read and accept information that supports their biased agenda without research. Media was spreading 18 school shootings already this year, however most of them were negligent discharges and such.... not mass killing attempts. Point made: don't always believe information at face value.

[kevnb]

world of warcraft is the biggest game ever, its not even close. World of Warcraft had 12 million concurrent subscribers at its peak, not sales but subscribers paying a monthly fee. Total sales for world of warcraft must be close to 200 million considering its lifespan, worldwide popularity and how many people still play.

[Alucard_420]

FFXIV had 10 mil at some point, may get cracked in the near future.

[kevnb]

It’s never had close to 10 million at once.

[WilliamSheridan]

Wow had 12 million for years... 15 years... That game made over 500 million a month for close to 15 years!... That's why Blizzard only makes service games now

[kevnb]

Final fantasy 14 didn’t have 10 million, how am I getting disagrees for that?

[FPS_D3TH]

I think it’s fair to say WoW has the advantage of forcing players to subscribe if they want to play. GTA has managed to do this by only making players buy into a single copy of the game that hasn’t really budged in price since launch.

[kevnb]

they've also got millions to buy the game more than once.

[FPS_D3TH]

I did because I upgraded consoles but I also got a cool $40 back for my old copy so I’m sure there’s some used game purchases that aren’t accounted for. Nonetheless WoW also had $60 expansions like burning crusade and such too on top of its sub. That’s another obvious money stream.

[PurpHerbison]

Burning Crusade was $40

[zodiac909]

@D3TH_D33LR This guy knows whats up.

[Skankinruby]

Either way the fact that it's sold as much as it did shows how easily impressed gamers have become.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Easily impressed? So a game that sells a lot of copies isn't on it's own merits as a good game?

[DillyDilly]

Making money based on hype / curiosity & franchise appeal does not guarantee its good. Or the fact that Te Phantom Menace made $1 Billion at the Box Office means that that movie is amazing

[bloop]

Hype, curiosity and franchise appeal?? It's one of the most critically acclaimed games ever made, by both reviewers and consumers. It achieved it's success on it's own merit, not curiosity. Different strokes for different folks and all that, but get real.

[JackBNimble]

You don't sell 90 million copies of anything on hype and curiosity. Even if people bought the game twice on 2 different platforms, that alone should make a statement... People obviously want the game especially if they are willing to buy it twice.

[yeastori]

No sadly because GTAV was trash, it’s only good for the story the first time and then it stagnates

[Bebedora]

What about Minecraft? I thought that the worlds combined in that game would surpass our solar system in size.

[adonisisfree]

Minecraft is far more lucrative than GTA..

[kevnb]

Mine craft has an entire line of toys, books, and other items not directly related to the game. Something that wow has as well.

[adonisisfree]

Atleast until they make a black panther game....

[FPS_D3TH]

LOL. Could be the most mediocre thing ever too and it’d still sell like hot cakes

[FallenAngel1984]

Why dafuq would they?

[adonisisfree]

Umm, because it's the highest grossing superhero movie in the history on cenima? Why wouldn't they??

[Z501]

Is that a serious question?

[FallenAngel1984]

You know just because the movie is successful doesn’t mean the game would be right?

Plus they’d only be making the game as a movie tie-in rather than making the game because they love the property itself as was the case with Batman: Arkham Asylum and Spider-Man ‘18.

As a direct comparison, compare Telltale’s Guardians of the Galaxy to their Batman and Wolf Among Us series and see how there’s more quality in the latter that weren’t made because a recent movie was popular

[warriorcase]

It would be praised as being "the most important game of this generation" by the media. Seems like an easy cash cow

[yeastori]

Black money matters

[BadElf]

Fake news. Drain the swamp that we call N4G

[FullmetalRoyale]

Shoutout to my boy Michael. The only character who’s story had any impact in GTA V to me.

[FPS_D3TH]

Micheal & Amanda. Still a better love story than twilight

[FullmetalRoyale]

Lol
The moment when you walk into your house, and your daughter, son, and wife *have left you.. Just the silence in that house was the moment I most remember from that series.
That and my best friend and I back flipping in the mountains listening to Gin and Juice.

[Doomeduk]

Upto cataclysm expansion the pvp in warcraft to me has out classed most current games for outright fun either in the battlegrounds or just running across the barrens at low level to get to the summoning stone ( pvp server) I'm mainly a pvp gamer but since WOW, MAG and last of us online I've rarely feel anything on multilayer games these days apart from just ok
All just my own opinion ofc

[CrystalFantasy]

FFXIV is better though. Everyone knows this.

[Cmv38]

Why is this the comparison that pops into your mind?

[Tross]

I'm sure Rockstar's not too upset about that as the fact that their game is even considered by some to be in the same ballpark as the most profitable entertainment product says a lot about how successful it has been. Also, "biggest selling" and "most profitable" while not mutually exclusive, don't mean the same thing. Games with DLC and MTs have more opportunity to generate profit than other kinds of entertainment, and that can be accomplished without having to necessarily sell the most games. I mean, to be in the neighbourhood of the most profitable piece of entertainment media it would still have to sell a great deal, but compared to something like a book or movie, it can generate more profit with fewer units sold. Of course, compared to a game like WoW...yeah, I'm sure WoW still holds that title.

[inxine]

yea i agree with that, GTA lets u play for free tho. and its so much fun omg.

[blvdnights1414]

Well what if we compared WoW to GTA in general? Every WoW expansion is released at the full price of a stand alone game. IP vs IP? Don't really know if it's a more even comparison or not just seems uneven comparing 12 years of WoW to the one release of GTA.