There have been a whopping 15 Grand Theft Auto games in the series and all have their quirky nuances that make them great. But there's one that stands out from the rest for a big reason.
Grand Theft Auto V, which is also the most recent instalment, has made more money than any other entertainment product in history. Think about that for a second: every video game, album, concert and movie every produced has failed to bring in as much cash as the latest Rockstar North game.
While Tetris and Minecraft have technically sold more units (170 million and 144 million respectively) than GTA: V, the action-adventure game is undeniably more expensive than the games that sit at number one and two on the list.
It broke virtually all records when it was released in 2013, pulling in $800 million in the first day alone before hitting the $1 billion mark on the third day.
For comparison, the highest grossing film is still James Cameron's Avatar, which managed to rake in $2.7 billion. Even when you adjust for inflation, Star Wars only reaches to around $3 billion, according to Market Watch.
Cowen analyst Doug Creutz told the financial news site that GTA: V has roughly brought in around $6 billion since its release, adding: "I think maybe with the exception something Nintendo has made-Mario Brothers-but aside from that there's never been a console game that's sold so many units."
The instalment is widely considered one of the best video games of all time.
When it was released, it received praise from critics across the spectrum, with the top reviewers giving it 10/10 or close by.
IGN's Keza Macdonald wrote: "It both gives you tremendous freedom to explore an astonishingly well-realised world and tells a story that's gripping, thrilling, and darkly comic.
"It is a leap forward in narrative sophistication for the series, and there's no mechanical element of the gameplay that hasn't been improved over Grand Theft Auto IV.
"Grand Theft Auto V is also an intelligent, wickedly comic, and bitingly relevant commentary on contemporary, post-economic crisis America. Everything about it drips satire: it rips into the Millennial generation, celebrities, the far right, the far left, the middle class, the media... Nothing is safe from Rockstar's sharp tongue, including modern video games."
Obviously, there will be pressure on Rockstar to keep the good times rolling if and when it produces Grand Theft Auto 6. The company has been focused on Red Dead Redemption 2, which, to be fair, needed priority.
But it will be interesting to see if a new chapter would beat the incredible record set by its predecessor.
Featured Image Credit: RockstarTopics: GAMING, Entertainment, Awesome, Music, Interesting, Technology, Grand Theft Auto, Movie