Grand Theft Auto is one of the biggest franchises of the industry. It seems that, no matter where it goes, it sells gangbusters. But there's a huge difference between the sales of the games in EU and NA and and its sales in Japan. I know this is expected, considering GTA is a western-focused game, but still, I've noticed something interesting here.
Best-selling GTA games ordered by japanese numbers. Source VGChartz
| Game | Platform | Year | Genre | Publisher | Japan | Global |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto V | PS3 | 2013 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.95 | 21.04 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | PS2 | 2002 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.47 | 16.15 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | PS3 | 2008 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.44 | 10.49 |
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | PS2 | 2004 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.41 | 20.81 |
| Grand Theft Auto III | PS2 | 2001 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.30 | 13.10 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | PS4 | 2014 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.26 | 9.95 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | PSP | 2005 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.24 | 7.70 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories | PSP | 2006 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.16 | 5.06 |
| Grand Theft Auto IV | X360 | 2008 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.14 | 10.98 |
| Ghostbusters: The Video Game (DS Version) | PS3 | 2010 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.13 | 2.05 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | PS2 | 2006 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.07 | 3.54 |
| Grand Theft Auto V | X360 | 2013 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.06 | 15.95 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | DS | 2009 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.05 | 1.34 |
| Grand Theft Auto | PS | 1997 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.04 | 2.32 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories | PS2 | 2007 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.03 | 0.97 |
| Ghostbusters: The Video Game (DS Version) | X360 | 2009 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.03 | 2.55 |
| Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars | PSP | 2009 | Action | Take-Two Interactive | 0.03 | 1.06 |
Total sales: 3.81m in Japan aprox.
What we see here is really interesting. If we assume these numbers are accurate, we see that no GTA game has ever reached 1m units sold on retail (although GTA V might accomplish it in a year or two). The sales are concentrated on PS devices, which shouldn't be surprising considering Nintendo doesn't have regular GTA games and the XBox brand doesn't sell over there. What is a more interesting fact is that the sales are concentrated on home consoles, and not handhelds.
PS1. 0,04m PS2. 1,28m PS3. 1,52m PS4 0,26m Xbox 360 0,23m DS 0,05mm PSP 0,43m
The PS2 and PS3 have the best numbers, while everything else have really low numbers. GTA handheld games don't even reach half a million combined, and in the case of the DS, its sales are surpassed by the 360. In Japan. (again, 360 has more GTAs, but I think it's worth point it out).
We can clearly see that it's the japanese home console audience the one that buys this games the most. But considering handhelds haven't had a mainline GTA game, only the top down ones and the PSP "Stories" spinoffs, the interest for the franchise has grown more and more with time, and the tech has improved enough to allow big GTA-like experiences on handhelds, I'm not sure if it could be true right now.
If the Vita or the NX handheld had, per example, a GTA V port, do you think the game would sell well in Japan? Or would it flop due to lack of interest? Would the handheld version sell better in the west than in Japan?
