The UK's Top-Selling Grand Theft Auto Games Revealed

In the UK, only three gaming franchises surpass Grand Theft Auto in terms of sales: FIFA, Call of Duty, and Mario. These franchises have numerous titles spanning decades, whereas the GTA series has just seven mainline entries and a few spin-offs. The GTA franchise outsells LEGO, Star Wars, and Pokémon, which occupy fifth, sixth, and seventh places, respectively. This ranking is based on revenue from physical game sales, with data provided by GfK. Grand Theft Auto 5 is the best-selling title, generating £94 million in revenue within five days of its release in September 2013, equivalent to the lifetime revenue of GTA 4. It has sold three times as many copies as GTA 4, based solely on physical sales. As a result, GTA 5 is the UK's best-selling game of all time, in terms of boxed sales. Initially released on Xbox 360 and PS3, GTA 5 has sold slightly more on PS4 and Xbox One, although it generated more revenue on its original platforms. The first GTA game was released in the UK in November 1997 on PC, but it was not an immediate hit, debuting at No. 35 in the charts. The PS1 version, released two weeks later, performed better but only reached No. 7. The game's sales improved over time, with only 2% of sales coming from the first week. An expansion to GTA, set in London, was released in April 1999 and sold almost a third of the base game's sales. The second GTA game, released in October 1999, did not match the success of the first, reaching No. 8 in the charts. The series gained momentum with the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 in October 2001, which sold more than the first two games combined and reached No. 1 in the UK Top 40. The series continued to grow with the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which also reached No. 1 and ended FIFA 2003's three-week run at the top of the charts. GTA San Andreas, released in 2004, was a bigger game than its predecessors and was also released on Xbox, with the PS2 version accounting for 89% of sales. The game remains the second most successful GTA game in UK chart history. Rockstar developed original titles for handheld consoles, starting with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for PSP, which also launched on PS2. The game was a commercial success, with sales comparable to those of GTA 3. Its sequel, Vice City Stories, did not fare as well but remains one of the best-selling games on PSP. Grand Theft Auto 4 was released in April 2008, launching on Xbox 360 and PS3, with the Xbox version performing better. The game reached No. 1, knocking the newly released Wii Fit down to No. 2. Two downloadable expansions, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, were later combined into a physical release called Episodes From Liberty City, which sold strongly. In 2009, Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS, which was critically acclaimed but remains the lowest-selling standalone GTA game. The series has continued to grow, with the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, which has now crossed three generations of platforms, and the release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in 2021. The GTA 6 launch in 2025 will mark 28 years since the original GTA was released, and the series is stronger than ever. Other notable releases include GTA/GTA London, GTA/GTA2, GTA Triple Pack, GTA: Collector's Edition, GTA: Double Pack, GTA: The Trilogy, GTA 4: Completed Edition, and GTA The Trilogy: Definitive Edition.