'Grand Theft Auto V' Surpasses $1 Billion, Becomes Biggest Entertainment Launch in History

Credit: Rockstar Games

After raking in $800 million in its first day of sales, Grand Theft Auto V has made history by surpassing the $1 billion mark faster than any other entertainment launch in history, topping the previous record of $500 million set by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, which took only 15 days to reach the billion-dollar milestone.

According to Forbes, the game not only reached the $1 billion mark quicker than Black Ops 2, it reached the milestone faster than any blockbuster film. The Avengers was the fastest film in history to hit $1 billion, and it still took 19 days to accomplish the feat, as did billion-dollar blockbusters Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Avatar. Grand Theft Auto V essentially beat out the three biggest films in box office history by a full 16 days.

Rockstar, the developer of the GTA series, spent approximately $260 million on the development of the latest game in the franchise. With this release, the company has already made that money back, and then some.

“Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, the game's official distributor. “We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V.”