Reliable retail analytics company Circana (formerly NPD) have shared historical data of the best selling video games each year since 2000. These charts that cover the past two decades shed an incredible look at Rockstar Games‘ dominance in various years. Whether it’s GTA or Red Dead, Rockstar Games have some of the best selling games of all time.
The charts start at 2000 and end with 2023 given 2024 has not ended yet. They also have the top 20 games per year in the USA. The sales counted include all physical disc and digital copies; excluding Nintendo who do not report digital numbers. We’ll be going through all of the years a Rockstar Games title makes an appearance in the top 20. The years in which a Rockstar game does not appear in are 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012.
The chart placements
Firstly, 2001 saw Grand Theft Auto III release and it was the 2nd best selling game of the year behind Madden NFL 2002. The sports game had a couple more months on the market to help it out. Max Payne also launched in 2001 coming in at 13th place.
GTA Vice City took the top spot in 2002 but GTA III still reached 3rd position even thought it came out the prior year. Max Payne also made another appearance for 16th place. Vice City slipped to 12th in 2003. A new entry in that year was the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack at 18th place. It was a bundle containing both GTA III and Vice City.
2004 was when Rockstar took the crown for the first time. GTA San Andreas ruled supreme. It moved down to 8th place in 2005 but that was due to several huge releases such as Madden 06, Star Wars: Battlefront II, NCAA 06, Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition actually got into the top 20 as well! It was the 11th best seller.
After a two year gap of missing out the top 20, Rockstar Games re-entered in 8th with the legendary GTA IV. Despite being popular, it missed out to bigger hits such as Wii Fit, Wii Play, Rock Band, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Call of Duty: World at War. The game also released in April whilst Call of Duty dropped in November and Guitar Hero: World Tour came out in October. Red Dead Redemption came out in 2010 and hit 6th position after no titles in 2009’s top 20. L.A. Noire got 16th place in 2011.
Then GTA V broke records in 2013. It was the best selling game of the year. It remained in 3rd place during 2014 and 2015. The game slipped to 6th place in 2016 and 2017. Meanwhile Red Dead Redemption 2 captured a much bigger audience than the previous game. It was the best selling game of 2018. GTA V moved down to 11th place.
In 2019, GTA V lost just 1 place but Red Dead 2 ended the year in 13th position. Despite being several years old in 2020, GTA V gained places up to 8th. Red Dead 2 hung on at 20. Whilst Red Dead Redemption 2 missed the top 20 in 2021, it came back into it at 19th place during 2022. GTA V came in 11th place during that year then 15th in 2023.
It will certainly be interesting to see where GTA 6 will place over time. We can assume first place is locked in for the year it releases. In other recent charts, Red Dead 2 and GTA V sales are starting to fall.
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