Back in May, the Epic Games Store held a massive free giveaway of GTA V; a giveaway which drew so much attention that it actually caused the Store website to go down temporarily. Now, new data shows just how much GTA V’s PC figures jumped as a result. The giveaway prompted a massive growth of 245% in the number of PC players of GTA V!
GTA V Continues to Attract Huge Player Numbers
Despite being years old at this point, GTA V continues to be one of the most successful games on a month-by-month basis. The game consistently ranks in the top 10 best-selling games, for example, particularly when platforms offer sales. According to new data released by SuperData, following the free GTA V giveaway on the Epic Games Store in May, the number of PC players of GTA V leapt 245%. In fact, even though the game was being given away for free, the revenue from the PC version nonetheless went up by around 200%!
Of course, most of the new PC players acquired the game through the Epic Games Store giveaway, meaning that they got the game for free. However, GTA V generates much of its income through in-game content and micro-transactions. The enormous influx of new players meant a similarly huge increase in the amount of in-game purchases. As a result, the free giveaway appears to have been an incredibly profitable event for Rockstar.
It’s worth noting, however, that the PC version of GTA V consistently under-performs the console versions of the game. Despite a 245% increase in player numbers, the PC version’s player numbers were still around 25% lower than the console versions. Similarly, the console version of GTA V typically generates around four times as much revenue per month. With that in mind, it’s likely that the recently-announced bonus cash for PS4 players could do more to generate revenue long-term for GTA V than this one-off event. Nonetheless, this giveaway seems to have given the PC version a notable boost; one which could well lead to stronger performance in the months to come.