Whereas Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed have opted for annual releases, Rockstar has been going steady with stronger releases every few years that hit harder, less often. This method has proven to be more than effective, if the record breaking sales of Grand Theft Auto V are any indication. As of last September, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold over 150 million copies worldwide, the most recent entry into which broke ground as one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, removing any doubt that the interactive entertainment industry had far surpassed film in sheer profitability. Not bad, for a series that started with a humble PC action game for DOS and Windows. The original Grand Theft Auto was met with mixed reviews and high sales upon release, but it wasn't the title that really kickstarted the franchise. No, that was Grand Theft Auto III, DMA Design's first foray into the frontier realm of 3D gaming, which ultimately redefined open world 3D gaming and created a whole new genre in its wake. Grand Theft Auto III hit the market with a sucker punch, quickly becoming a bestseller in the United States. In fact, it would have been the highest selling game two years in a row, if it didn't take second place to its successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. From there, the series only got better, with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - considered by many gamers to be amongst the greatest games ever made - being the best-selling video game of 2004. All of this thanks to one sequel, Grand Theft Auto III. Guess the third time really is the charm. Can you think of any other series that broke new ground with sequels, and not right out of the gate? Sound off in the comments section below!
Ken was born in 1994, and before the turn of the century, he was already a gamer for life, starting with Pokémon Blue Version. He has a passion for storytelling, especially in the gaming medium. Growing up on a healthy diet of JRPGs and point and click adventure games, young Kenny grew up playing Nintendo and Sony consoles, before becoming a snobby member of the PC Master Race. Nowadays, he resides in a time warp, refusing to believe the nineties ended as he fills up his Steam library with old point and clicks and cRPGs.
