Grand Theft Auto: Online's in-game purchases have largely contributed to the game's success.
According to a new report released by the Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), the inclusion of in-game micro-transactions in developer Rockstar’s and publisher Take-Two Interactive’s latest open-world crime saga Grand Theft Auto V has garnered some impressive statistics.
In the two weeks following GTA V’s September 17 release, the CIRP surveyed 300 different people who had purchased the game and discovered that roughly 95% of them either already owned or had recently purchased one or several other games that support in-app purchases, such as popular mobile titles like Angry Birds, Candy Crush, or Plants vs. Zombies 2. Once GTAV’s online multiplayer portion was activated, the CIRP found that over half of the total 300 players they surveyed had made at least one in-app purchase both in GTA: Online and in other games.
GTA V also managed to attract a wealth of new fans as the CIRP has also reported it as the highest-selling Grand Theft Auto game to date. Many of the 300 people the CIRP surveyed said that it was the very first GTA game they had ever bought; 20% of those surveyed said they had not bought or played the previously released GTA IV or either of its two standalone expansions and 11% had never played any of the series’ other entries before playing GTA V.
Despite the somewhat rocky launch of GTA V’s online multiplayer, the game has continued to surpass sales records thanks to both the ambitious multiplayer suite and the highly-acclaimed single-player story. While these new CIRP statistics are impressive, they are hardly surprising given the sheer wealth of sales GTA V generated in its opening weeks alone, not to mention the fact that it still remains one of the highest-selling games of 2013 months after its initial release.
