Considering that the game has already shipped more than 45 million units, including its re-release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last year, Grand Theft Auto V has become a phenomenon in the video game industry – and it’s just getting started.
Yesterday, Rockstar Games released the popular third-person open-world action game for PC, creating a new benchmark for the title that not only includes the most spectacular visual performance to date (running up to 60 frames per second with the right hardware), but also including a video editor, allowing users to create custom clips that they can share with the community. It’s bound to be a big sales hit for the publisher, and, in its first day alone, it’s made huge waves on Steam.
GamesIndustry International reports that the game has already set a new record for concurrent users on Valve’s popular PC gaming service. It’s managed to bring in just over 300,000 players on its release day alone, eclipsing the previous record held by Bethesda’s role-playing adventure Skyrim a few years ago, which drew 280,000 players in a single time period.
This is still small potatoes compared to Valve’s first party releases, including DOTA 2, which, at one point, managed to bring in 800,000 players. However, it still sets a new standard for third-party companies, and indicates that Rockstar should have no trouble selling millions of copies of its popular game, adding to its already immense total.
GTA V has managed to generate $1 billion in revenue faster than any other entertainment product in history, becoming the best-selling game of all time for both the U.K. and U.S. markets. The PC release could estimate at least another ten million units sold – and maybe more, depending on how many features Rockstar adds to both the main game and the Grand Theft Auto Online component in the months ahead.
To get an idea of what kind of changes are included in the PC version – and catch a glimpse of the new video editor in action – check out the video below.
