Grand Theft Auto 5 is the most profitable entertainment product ever

GTA 5 has made more than $6 billion within it's 5 year lifespan, more than any movie or any other entertainment product. This is according to a new report by MarketWatch on the financial performance of GTA 5.

To put GTA 5's financial success into perspective, the best selling movie of all time, Avatar, made just under $2.8 billion in it's run at the box office. No other entertainment product, including books or music records has come close to the performance of GTA 5.

There are a number of contributing factors that's made GTA 5 so successful. The fact that it did launch on two different generations of consoles, and followed by a belated release meant that gamers were constantly buying the game on their preferred platform. The hype behind the game also ensured that it made a billion dollars within the first few days of the game's launch.

Microtransactions and constant online content updates however may be the biggest factors that's given the game it's extremely long tail. While the report from MarketWatch does not explicitely state whether or not these sales number are included of Shark Card purchases, it is safe to assume that they have helped make GTA 5 the powerhouse it currently is.

Currently GTA 5 has sold about 90 million copies of the game. While there are many other games with higher sales numbers, GTA 5 has made more money than any other game to date. The fact that you would need to add all the sale of all the previous GTA titles just to get close to GTA 5's number is astounding

Below is an infographic of just how big GTA 5 is within the entertainment industry.