As the world waits for the GTA VI trailer to drop tomorrow, we’ve had a quick look at how Rockstar’s games have performed on mobile to date, using Appmagic data. [Edit: the trailer is out already.]
The revenue tracking only begins from 2015 onwards, so much of premium’s boom years are not included in the data – but it’s clear that Rockstar’s GTA games have generated well over $100m combined on mobile.
GTA III has earned $8.6m and Vice City is on $18m since 2015, though they were released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, so there’s likely many millions missing from these figures. GTA: San Andreas, released in 2013, has earned close to $60m since the data started being recorded in 2015.
Combined, the GTA games currently earn Rockstar around $500k per month, which is pretty solid for a bunch of premium catalogue titles that require relatively little maintenance. Remember, Appmagic data does not include platform fees or taxes, so these numbers are an estimate of developer earnings.
The data is more complete for some of Rockstar’s more recent releases. Appmagic says Bully: Anniversary Edition has earned the studio around $8.4m since it released in December 2016, and PSP/PS2 spin-off GTA: Liberty City Stories, released in December 2015, has earned Rockstar over $4.6m.
Nintendo DS title GTA: Chinatown Wars came to mobile in 2010, and has earned around $3.9m on iOS and Android since 2015. But this doesn’t tell the full story; those first five years will have accounted for the vast majority of its earnings. Remember, too, that mobile players were much more inclined to pay up front for games during that period.
Some extra tidbits: App bundle Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy has earned Rockstar $4.2m from 2015 to today, a high-priced premium package that includes the three PS2 games GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas. 2012’s Max Payne Mobile has earned around $2.5m since 2015, though again the revenue data is missing for its first few years on sale when it will have earned the most.
Next up on mobile are the PS2 remasters. Netflix confirmed last week that it had snapped up Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which includes reworked editions of GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas.
The package was originally released for PC and console in November 2021, and slated for release on iOS and Android in the first half of 2022. It was then delayed several times and was finally listed at ‘TBC’ in Rockstar owner Take-Two’s most recent financial results.
The Definitive Edition games are now available to pre-order on iOS and Android and will be released to Netflix subscribers on December 14. Rockstar will have also got quite a payday from this project too, given that Netflix has paid for the games to be exclusive.
