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GTA Trilogy's Netflix release became streamer's most successful games launch

The GTA Trilogy ends up being a winner over on Netflix, proving the open world franchise's longevity.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

January 24, 2024

1 Min Read
Key art for Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: Definitive Edition.
Image via Rockstar Games.

At a Glance

  • Netflix's vague praise of the GTA Trilogy's success may be telling as far as the overall success of its games service.

It's been just over a month since Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Trilogy remasters came to Netflix, and it's already the streamer's best games launch.

In its new financial report, Netflix revealed the bundle was its most successful launch on an installation and engagement level. MobileGamer reports the trilogy had 18 million downloads thus far, though neither Netflix or Rockstar corroborated those numbers.

Of the three games, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was said to be the most successful at 11.6 million downloads. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was second at 4.1 million, and Grand Theft Auto 3 at 2.4 million.

All three are well-regarded, and there's clearly a GTA fever amongst players. So it's not surprising the GTA Trilogy did well at Netflix. But the vagueness of its success may underline how much the streamer's games gambit hasn't fully taken off yet.

Previous reports claimed Netflix was considering in-game ads or charging for some games. Either would help get eyes on the service, which Netflix has been trying to make as big as its film and TV slate.

In the games section of its financial report, the streamer says the service is "still [in its] early days." Later this year, it plans to add titles like Hades to the service, along with a spinoff for Squid Game.

Somewhere in all this are Netflix's plans to go up from mobile to console and PC games. Unlike with its shows, it's presently unclear how to define a Netflix Game, a problem it'll have to figure out.

Update: This story has been updated with additional information on the GTA Trilogy's reported download numbers, per MobileGamer.

About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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