Just How Many GTA 5 Online Players Are There in 2023?

Updated · Mar 06, 2023

Welcome to the pinnacle of modern gaming.

Almost 10 years after its release, GTA is still used as an example of what a good video game should look like.

Its graphics, gameplay, story, and characters are all enviable, setting the bar for future games very high.

But what is the number of GTA 5 online players? Is it still high?

To answer these questions, we skimmed the Web and found some very impressive stats about the game. See some of our favorites below.

Developer: Rockstar Games

Year of release: 2013

Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Genre: Action

Fascinating Facts

  • Rockstar North began working on GTA 5 in 2008.
  • The production and marketing of the game cost $256 million.
  • Over 1,000 people worked on the game’s development.
  • Upon the game’s release, there were 360,761 concurrent online GTA 5 players.
  • In August 2021, it had just shy of 215,000 concurrent players on Steam.
  • The game has made over $6 billion since its release.
  • GTA 5 has a Metacritic score of 97.

GTA Facts

This is one of the most popular video games of all time, and completely rightfully so.

Before we give a detailed overview of the GTA online player count, we present some key facts about the game and its development.

1. Rockstar North began working on Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2008.

(Source: Develop Online)

Not Four, Five. You read that right. At the time GTA IV was released, Rockstar had already started gathering ideas for GTA V.

Still, besides the early start, it was in development for three full years. But the fans’ patience has paid off. We have one of the best video games of all time!

No wonder the GTA 5 player count is so high.

2. The company spent around $265 million on production and development.

(Source: The Scotsman)

That makes it one of the most high-budget video games of all time. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive one. It even surpassed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’s massive $250 million.

At the time of writing, however, the game with the highest production cost is the bittersweet Cyberpunk 2077. Its official figures reveal a development cost of $316 million.

Yet, it has fewer online players than GTA 5.

3. Over one thousand people worldwide worked on GTA 5’s development.

(Source: Develop Online)

There are multiple Rockstar development studios, and most of them, if not all, seem to have worked on GTA. And the result is obvious.

As Leslie Benzies, Rockstar North’s president, said, “The detail is ten, twenty times greater than GTA IV, so it takes ten, twenty times more people.”

4. GTA 5 holds a Metacritic score of 97.

(Source: Metacritic)

Metacritic is a site that gathers reviews on movies, games, and music albums and generates a score based on them.

GTA 5’s score from critics is 97, which stands for “universal acclaim.” What’s more, along with the large GTA 5 player count, goes a high user rating. The game holds an 8.3 rating based on 4,779 reviews.

GTA 5 Player Count

Let’s take a look at the past and current GTA player numbers.

5. GTA 5 had 360,761 concurrent players in the first month after its release.

(Source: Steam Charts)

And that’s only on Steam! Unfortunately, we don’t have data on the GTA player count for Xbox or all the PlayStation versions. Who knows what that number would be if we counted them too?

That said, the game has fewer players now.

6. In August 2021, GTA V had almost 215,000 concurrent players.

(Source: Steam Charts)

The player count of the biggest Rockstar Games hit fluctuates quite a bit.

For instance, the peak of GTA concurrent players for June 2021 was “only” 155,599. July 2021 turned this around with a staggering 218,784.

August followed closely with a peak of 214,591 concurrent players. September marked another fall, this time to 151,408, and so on.

7. Around 100,000 people play GTA 5 concurrently.

(Source: Steam Charts) 

GTA 5 Steam Charts show that the number of concurrent players for 2021 varied between around 130,000 and 220,000.

Тhis might be nothing compared to the game’s record number of over 360,000, but it’s still high. Especially for a nine-year-old game!

8. GTA 5 has two million online players per month on average.

(Source: ActivePlayer)

Estimations show that the average number of GTA monthly players has been over the two million mark since November 2021.

It hasn’t been that big since January 2019!

9. The GTA 5 player count is 2.5 to five times higher for PS4 than PC.

(Source: PC Games N)

Rockstar Games rarely shares such information, but game enthusiasts have made the calculations based on the scarce information available online.

Different site estimates show different numbers, so we can’t say which are the correct ones for sure. Still, they all show that the PC GTA player count is lower than that of the PS4 version.

GTA Statistics in 2022

Almost nine years since this absolutely incredible game was released, and it still shows no sign of slowing down.

The online version of GTA 5 is constantly getting content updates. Developers are doing their best to keep “milking” it for as long as they can, but at least they’re doing it right.

Is GTA 5 dead in 2022?

This couldn’t be further from the truth. Here are some relevant stats to prove this.

10. Towards the end of 2021, GTA 5 has accumulated over $6 billion.

(Source: VentureBeat)

We’re not talking about in-game currency but real money. Thanks to all the active GTA players, the game made serious bucks.

And predictions are that there will continue to be many GTA 5 online players in 2022, too, so the game will keep growing and making money.

11. GTA 5’s enhanced version was postponed to March 2022.

(Source: VG247)

The new version of the game was supposed to be released in November 2021. However, the company pushed it back a few months.

Supposedly, developers need more time to fine-tune it. Fans can expect a lot of technical and graphical improvements.

Will that increase the GTA online player count?

12. By November 2021, Grand Theft Auto 5 had sold over 155 million copies.

(Source: VentureBeat)

The annual reports of Take Two Interactive, the company that owns Rockstar Games, reveal that people are still buying the game.

In Q1 2021 alone, GTA 5 sold over five million copies. Considering the number of active GTA 5 players, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Wrap Up

That’s all we have for today.

All said and done, the main takeaways are clear. The number of GTA 5 online players is big and still growing. The game is very much alive.

And given the frequent content updates, it probably won’t die anytime soon.

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Nick Galov
Nick Galov

Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.