--- description: But that can't be right, because consoles are dead. title: Rockstar: Grand Theft Auto V Was 2013’s Best-Selling Video Game image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9558de0b627d5726/698681ebe53aba10354d1120/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-game-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Rockstar: Grand Theft Auto V Was 2013's Best-Selling Video Game by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2014 2:30 PM CUT  Rockstar Games by [Matt Peckham](/author/matt-peckham/) ## Matt Peckham Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2014 2:30 PM CUT I’m pretty sure there’s a mistake here. Rockstar’s claiming _Grand Theft Auto V_ — [my review is here](http://techland.time.com/2013/09/16/review-grand-theft-auto-v-everything-rockstars-learned-about-open-world-design-refined/ "undefined") — was the best-selling game of 2013, but that can’t be right, because consoles are dead: subverted by the smartphone-tablet tsunami. I mean, the sandbox crime-spree for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 didn’t launch until September 2013, so we’re talking just three-and-a-half months to rack up 32.5 million copies sold. That’s impossible, right? I mean sure, we all knew it’d break launch sales records, and sure enough, it [cleared over $1 billion in three days](http://techland.time.com/2013/09/20/grand-theft-auto-v-no-longer-wants-to-be-a-billionaire/ "undefined") (the next-biggest seller, revenue-wise, is _Call of Duty: Black Ops 2_, which took over two weeks to hit that figure), claiming the sales record in that timeframe for _any_ form of entertainment, video game or otherwise. But clinching the hallowed “best-selling video game of 2013” chalice, both by revenue _and_ units sold? Wasn’t that [_Candy Crush Saga_](http://business.time.com/2013/11/15/candy-crush-saga-the-science-behind-our-addiction/ "undefined")? Maybe [_Temple Run 2_](http://techland.time.com/2013/01/17/temple-run-2-review-look-its-a-guy-in-a-cart/ "undefined")? No? Not [_Minecraft: Pocket Edition_](http://techland.time.com/2013/05/23/the-15-best-minecraft-creations-and-wildest-destinations/ "undefined") or [_Angry Birds: Star Wars_](http://techland.time.com/2012/10/09/angry-birds-star-wars-beaming-up-or-whatever-on-november-8/ "undefined")? What’s going on here? Did we sideslip in space-time? Is this some goofy alter-verse where prognosticators who [keep predicting console atrophy](http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/05/economist-explains-17 "undefined") are wildly off? Analysts cut from the same cloth as those now scolding Nintendo for its stubborn insistence on [treating games as holistic experiences](http://techland.time.com/2014/01/23/nintendo-like-apple-needs-to-control-the-experience-from-nuts-to-bolts-to-keep-being-nintendo/ "undefined"), design-wise? In Rockstar’s [just-released third quarter financial report](http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1896337&highlight= "undefined"), the company sources its “best-selling video game of 2013” claim to retail sales tracker NPD. I haven’t double-checked that claim with NPD, so who knows — maybe Rockstar’s fibbing. If it knows what’s good for it — since we all know [no one’s buying the PlayStation 4](http://techland.time.com/2014/01/07/playstation-4-doubles-down-sells-4-2-million-units-worldwide/ "undefined") or Xbox One — it’ll own up to any funny business, then get busy working on its first mobile _Candy Crush_ clone. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4010/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-v-was-2013s-best-selling-video-game/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4010/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-v-was-2013s-best-selling-video-game/"},"headline":"Rockstar: Grand Theft Auto V Was 2013's Best-Selling Video Game","datePublished":"2014-02-04T14:30:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:32.611Z","description":"But that can't be right, because consoles are dead.","url":"https://time.com/4010/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-v-was-2013s-best-selling-video-game/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","Gaming & Culture","Business topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9558de0b627d5726/698681ebe53aba10354d1120/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-game-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Peckham","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-peckham/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9558de0b627d5726/698681ebe53aba10354d1120/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-game-xbox.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"rockstar-grand-theft-auto-game-xbox.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Rockstar Games","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4010/rockstar-grand-theft-auto-v-was-2013s-best-selling-video-game/","name":"Rockstar: Grand Theft Auto V Was 2013's Best-Selling Video Game"}}]}] ```