Everyone who even vaguely follows games knows that Grand Theft Auto V has been a massive success, both critically and commercially. GTA V is one of the best selling games of all time and has brought in historic amounts of revenue.
Gamers who keep track of the monthly NPD reports of the best selling video game software certainly know about GTA V’s prolonged success. Even five years after it’s release, GTA V is routinely in the NPD top ten. As other games come and go, Rockstar’s 2013 hit remains.
While GTA V’s success is well-known, the picture is even more clear when you see their rankings over time. Below, you can see GTA V’s NPD rankings for every month since the game’s release on consoles on Sept. 17, 2013.
GTA V’s NPD Rankings Every Month Since Release
2013
- September: 1st
- October: 1st
- November: 5th
- December: 7th
2014
- January: 5th
- February: 5th
- March: Not in top 10
- April: 9th
- May: Not in top 10
- June: 10th
- July 7th
- August: Not in top 10
- September: Not in top 10
- October: Not in top 10
- November: 2nd
- December 2nd
2015
- January: 3rd
- February: 5th
- March: 3rd
- April: 2nd
- May: 3rd
- June: 7th
- July: 4th
- August: 4th
- September: Not in top 10
- October: Not in top 10
- November: Not in top 10
- December: 6th
2016
- January: 2nd
- February: 3rd
- March: 4th
- April: 5th
- May: 5th
- June: 2nd
- July: 1st
- August: 4th
- September: 7th
- October: Not in top 10
- November: Not in top 10
- December: 7th
2017
- January: 3rd
- February: 3rd
- March: 6th
- April: 6th
- May: 3rd
- June: 3rd
- July: 3rd
- August: 2nd
- September: 7th
- October: 12th
- November: 13th
- December: 10th
2018
- January: 5th
- February: 5th
- March: 5th
- April: 7th
- May: 6th
- June: 3rd
- July: 2nd
- August: 4th
That’s not too shabby. This means that out of GTA V’s 60 months on the market, it has had 48 top 10 months, 33 top five months, 20 top three months and three months as the best selling game. Its longest streak of top 10 appearances is 10 months, and this has happened three times: November 2014 – August 2015, December 2015 – September 2016 and December 2016 – September 2017. They are currently on a nine-month streak that began in December 2017. Additionally, in NPD’s annual top ten, GTA V ranked first in 2013, fourth in 2014, fifth in 2015, sixth in 2016 and sixth in 2017.
While this is undeniably impressive, it’s important to note that the NPD’s listings aren’t infallible. NPD only counts sales in the U.S. and doesn’t receive digital sales from certain companies, Nintendo being one of the most notable. Some rankings might be slightly off from reality, but there is no question that GTA V is one of the most popular games in history and shows no sign of slowing down.
If you are one of the millions still playing GTA V in 2018, check out our guides including the 5 best mods of August 2018, how to double clutch on PS4 and how to register as a CEO in GTA online.
