10 Best-Selling Rockstar Games Of All Time

Arguably, no other developer has the pedigree of Rockstar Games.

Everyone knows about the strength of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, but Rockstar’s lineage goes far beyond those games. They’re responsible for Bully, Midnight Club, Max Payne 3, L.A. Noire, and even Table Tennis. Yes, Rockstar made a really, really good Table Tennis game for the Xbox 360 in 2006.

While the world waits with baited breath to find out how many copies of Grand Theft Auto 6 will sell at launch, I figured it would be fun to see which Rockstar Games have sold the most copies over the years.

What won’t be surprising is the number of copies the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold. What will be surprising, though, are the other games that make the list. Or, notably, which games don’t. We did our best to use actionable sales data to put this together.

Notably, there’s conflicting data over the number of copies Midnight Club: Los Angeles sold, so it’s off the list, but it still gets a special shout-out here. Also, Rockstar should bring back Midnight Club. Anyway, on with the list!

9 L.A. Noire

Approximately 7.5 Million Copies Sold

My favorite college class was the one where we would watch old film noir movies like The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, and Sunset Boulevard while we ordered Chinese takeout. So yeah, I was pretty much the target demographic for L.A. Noire.

The selling point here is the game’s facial recognition software, which records actors’ facial expressions to help you better deduce whether or not they’re lying. It works the best it can; actors can only do so much to pretend like they’re lying versus bluffing, so it is what it is. It’s still a clever gameplay mechanic and one that helped keep the original playthrough fresh, even though it limits the replayability.

Speaking of that, the open world of L.A. Noire isn’t much to write home about, further cementing this game as a solid one-and-done type of experience.

Having said that, there are so many unique ideas at play in how you play the game, combined with a good enough noir-esque detective story. L.A. Noire was a massive risk for Rockstar Games, and I’m glad they took it. They’d never make a game like this today, unfortunately.

8 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Approximately 8 Million Copies Sold

Should it surprise you that the best-selling PSP game of all time is a Grand Theft Auto title? Absolutely not. Should it surprise you that it’s the GTA 3 spin-off taking place in Liberty City and not the Vice City spin-off? Honestly, yeah.

One thing that stands out with Liberty City Stories is how good the game’s story is. Obviously, it’s a major improvement over the last time we were in Liberty City with GTA 3, but then again, anything would beat that barebones story.

What impresses the most about Liberty City Stories is how well it plays on the PSP. There are no limitations from the PSP’s hardware; this is a full-blown, legitimate Grand Theft Auto experience, and that showed with how well the game was received, not just by critics, but fans as well.

The PSP was a system that struggled to prove its existence once the initial wow factor wore off, but the existence of Liberty City Stories made you want to buy a PSP to play it, even though it would be ported to the PS2 just a year later.

7 Grand Theft Auto 3

Approximately 14.5 Million Copies Sold

It’s kind of wild to think that Grand Theft Auto 3 “only” sold 14.5 million copies. That’s a pretty big number for a PS2-era game that was released in 2001!

These were unheard of numbers back then, though, proving how revolutionary GTA 3 was for the industry. It was an open world playground, opening up gameplay doors and avenues we never thought possible.

Half the fun I had with friends in this game was just taking turns exploring the city, stealing cars, and getting into mischief. We’d play until we died, and then the next person got a chance to give it a go. It wasn’t necessarily about the story, which again is what it is, and looking back, the gameplay hasn’t aged well at all, but remember the state of video games in 2001.

There were plenty of great multiplayer games back then, such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Halo, but nothing else out there offered the freedom to see and do whatever you wanted like this.

6 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Approximately 17.5 Million Copies Sold

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a better GTA 3, so yeah, of course it sold more copies.

The gameplay we knew and loved was back and better than ever, but this time, Rockstar ups the ante to address the flaws with its predecessor. Trading in Liberty City for 1980s Vice City Miami gave the game more style and personality.

Oh, and Ray Liotta as the voice of Tommy Vercetti is a brilliant casting choice.

What undoubtedly helped Vice City’s sales figures, though, was the amount of hype Rockstar was able to generate. After blowing everyone away with the quality of GTA 3, Vice City quickly became the most anticipated PS2 game of 2002. Then it found a way to exceed those expectations. When that happens, you’re going to sell a lot of copies.

5 Red Dead Redemption

Approximately 17.5 Million Copies Sold

The anticipated follow-up to Grand Theft Auto 4, the HD debut for the GTA series was…a spiritual successor to Rockstar’s unsung western game, Red Dead Revolver. Here’s the thing, though: this was a very different Rockstar making Red Dead Redemption over Red Dead Revolver.

First is the fact that Red Dead Redemption is Rockstar’s game through and through, whereas Red Dead Revolver began as a project under Capcom’s supervision at San Diego-based Angel Studios. Take Two would acquire the developer in 2002 and turn it into Rockstar San Diego. By the time development on Red Dead Redemption began in 2005, they would not only have input from Rockstar Games leadership, but the experience of crafting open-world games after the success of GTA 3/Vice City/San Andreas.

Thanks to the power of the RAGE engine, first introduced in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (I swear to God this was so much fun) and GTA 4 (don’t worry, more on that later), we have a true-blue open-world western experience worthy of the Rockstar name.

It proved that Rockstar Games wasn’t a one-trick pony with the GTA series; they could craft inviting open worlds and pack them with immersive gameplay, excellent storytelling, and unforgettable characters. But then again, they already proved they weren’t a one-trick pony after the success of Table Tennis.

4 Grand Theft Auto 4

Approximately 25 Million Copies Sold

On April 28th, 2008, I was sitting outside my local GameStop. It was a cold and rainy Spring night in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was spending my time watching The Warriors (another great Rockstar game, by the way) as I prepared to lose myself in the world of Grand Theft Auto 4. As you can imagine, I was one of many, many people in line, back when midnight launches were the norm in the gaming world.

I, along with millions of others, came home, booted up my Xbox 360, and was asked to go bowling. No, I did not want to go bowling; I wanted to play GTA 4. Yet my stupid cousin kept asking if I wanted to hang out, go bowling, play pool, or whatever.

No, Roman, I am happy that I’m playing a Grand Theft Auto game with good controls. Driving a car doesn’t make me feel miserable anymore. Aiming my weapons actually feels responsible. Liberty City feels alive with personality, unlike the boring, bland, sterile environment of GTA 3. He won’t stop calling, though.

Eventually, I just ignored his calls and kept playing the first-ever HD Grand Theft Auto game, wondering if it would ever get better. Spoiler alert: it would get nearly 100 times better.

3 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Approximately 27.5 Million Copies Sold

As innovative as GTA 3 was, and as stylish as Vice City is, I’d argue that San Andreas is the GTA game that helped launch the franchise into the stratosphere. Don’t believe me? It’s the one that sold more copies than its sequel.

One thing that undoubtedly helped San Andreas break 27 million copies sold is the fact that it was the first to come to the Xbox console, albeit months after the PS2 launch. It was still a big deal: this was the first time Xbox gamers were able to get their hands on one of the best games of its generation, and they showed up in droves.

I was working at GameStop at the time; we couldn’t keep the thing in stock. In fact, the only thing that stopped us from selling it was the Hot Coffee controversy.

Beyond that, this is arguably the most well-rounded GTA experience. The world of San Andreas is surprisingly large. Sure, it’s smaller than the worlds of GTA 4 and GTA 5, but remember: this is, essentially, a PS2 game, and it’s a better open world title than so many Xbox 360/PS3 era GTA clones that would dominate the generation.

Oh, and if that’s not enough, the soundtrack is so good that you could just spend hours driving around your favorite city listening to the game’s radio stations.

2 Red Dead Redemption 2

Approximately 70 Million Copies Sold

Spoiler alert: Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling Rockstar game, but I don’t know if it’s automatically their best game. Red Dead 2 has a legitimate claim to that throne.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is the culmination of everything Rockstar has learned over the years, resulting in a masterclass of storytelling, character development, and open-world gameplay. It’s a beautiful game, not just in terms of its visual prowess, but the cinematography as well.

As impressive as GTA 5 is, there are still hardware limitations in place; I have no idea how Rockstar got that game to run on the Xbox 360/PS3-era hardware. Being able to tap into what the Xbox One/PS4 makes possible results in a far more polished, uncompromising experience.

Grand Theft Auto 6 isn’t looking to improve on GTA 5; it’s looking to improve on Red Dead Redemption 2.

1 Grand Theft Auto 5

Approximately 210 Million Copies Sold

There’s only one game that has sold more copies than Grand Theft Auto 5: Minecraft.

Is it because Rockstar re-released it so many times that it gave Skyrim a run for its money? Possibly. Is it because it’s an incredible achievement in open-world gaming and the best game in a popular franchise? Probably.

As I said earlier, I’d argue that Red Dead Redemption 2 is a far better game, but don’t underestimate the selling power of Grand Theft Auto. As fun as riding through the Old West on horseback is, driving through Los Santos and performing heists is even more fun.

One area where I’d argue GTA 5 exceeds every other Rockstar game is the characters: Michael’s an excellent straight-man protagonist. Franklin is incredibly underrated, even if Llamar steals every scene he’s in. The real star of the show here is, obviously, Trevor. Together, the three all deliver an unforgettable experience.

Yeah, GTA 6 has a lot to live up to, but if anyone can do it, it’s Rockstar. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when we re-do this list in five years, Grand Theft Auto 6 will be at the top of it.