According to industry analysts, it appears that Grand Theft Auto V has gained a significant increase in players last month thanks to the Epic Games Store’s recent offer to download and keep it free of charge. This giveaway was one of many well-received free promotions from Epic over the past year or so, ranging from small indie titles like The Stanley Parable to big names like Borderlands: The Handsome Collection.
May’s free release of Grand Theft Auto V was an especially big deal, with the influx of excited players looking to snag Rockstar’s hit open-world crime title for themselves causing Epic’s servers to temporarily go offline within hours of the offer’s start. This came right along the time that Grand Theft Auto Online was in the midst of a highly publicized and incredibly bizarre alien gang war, and while Grand Theft Auto V has also suffered from a scourge of hackers ruining some players' multiplayer experiences, it seems that the combination of these two events has managed to bring overall interest in the game to an all-time high last month.
The Nielsen-associated website Superdata has just released its report on digital video game player totals for May yesterday, and it reveals that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto V saw its overall player base increase by a whopping 245% thanks to Epic’s giveaway. Additionally, the game saw a boost in profit due to increased in-game purchases, even as Grand Theft Auto V’s console ports continue to outearn the smaller PC market.
Since its initial release in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V has garnered heavy praise and sales to match from the gaming community, even going as far as being declared one of the most profitable pieces of entertainment media of all time. The game continues to remain in the eyes of players thanks to an updated port being set for release on the PlayStation 5, even as many rumors of an upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 began surfacing over the past few months.
Grand Theft Auto V is already considered one of the greatest video games ever made, and the fact that players could download it for free in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic certainly helped in bringing in new players throughout May. Credit should be given to Epic Games for its part in providing gamers all around the world with great titles to help distract them in these troubled times, including the brilliant Grand Theft Auto V.
Source: Superdata