Four months ago GTA Online was Rockstar Games’ trojan horse into the microtransaction market. It had seen the wild financial success of games like League of Legends and World of Tanks before deciding to try it out for its own. The result has been over $66 million in additional gross revenue from post-retail purchases, as confirmed by Take-Two Interactive during today’s earnings call.
GTA Online was built to encourage players to pay for convenience. Cash rewards from missions are agonizingly low, and property prices made unachievably high. Those who have any interest in owning a high-class apartment or a garage filled with cars have had to turn to the game’s cash shop which allows for the exchange of real-life and virtual currency.
Rockstar Games did try to soften the blow by offering a stimulus package last year. It gave players $500,000 merely for owning the game. However, it was only given to players who already owned the title. Purchases since December have had to make every dollar of their earnings through hard labor or through the cash shop.
Grand Theft Auto V‘s sales are currently around 26 million units worldwide following a record-breaking launch that made $1 billion in revenue. Luring customers over to GTA Online to tap additional money has been very lucrative so far. It’s extremely likely that future Rockstar titles will incorporate a similar microtransaction model.
