GTA 5 sees 23% increase in Xbox players following GTA 6 reveal

Following the long-awaited reveal of GTA 6, Xbox players returned to the mean streets of GTA 5's Los Santos in their droves, according to our data.

Sean Carey

Published 12 Dec 2023

Last week, Rockstar finally unveiled Grand Theft Auto 6 with a new trailer, and looking at the data, it seems the reveal inspired many Xbox players to return to GTA 5 for another run around Los Santos.

GTA 5 is always hovering around the top five of the most popular games in our Xbox Gameplay Chart, but it hasn't made it into the top three for quite some time now. However, following Rockstar's reveal of Grand Theft Auto VI, our latest Xbox Game Play Chart (ending December 10) showed that GTA 5 had managed to usurp the giant that is Minecraft and claim third place. According to our data, which draws from a player pool of 2.4 million active Xbox accounts (and not just TrueAchievements members!), GTA 5 saw a chunky 23% rise in players after the GTA 6 trailer was unveiled to the world.

As there are four different versions of GTA 5 on Xbox (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and the Japanese Xbox One port), we can see which version saw the biggest spike in players. Our data shows that the Japanese Xbox One port of GTA 5 saw the biggest increase in players (31%) compared to the previous week. However, considering the low player count of this version, it actually only works out to an increase of around 200 players — still, it's a pretty interesting tidbit.

The Xbox Series X|S version saw a 29% increase in players compared to the previous week, and the Xbox One version saw roughly a 20% increase, which was no doubt helped by both ports being made available through Xbox Game Pass. As for GTA 5 on Xbox 360, we saw a 25% increase in Xbox players, which shows there is still life in this version, despite being ten years old and not backward compatible with newer consoles.

As fans pore over every single detail in the new GTA 6 trailer and face the agonizing wait of a 2025 release window, it will be interesting to see if GTA 5 will continue to remain in the top three of our Xbox Gameplay Chart.

Did you return to GTA 5 following the GTA 6 reveal? Let us know down in the comments!

Written by Sean Carey

Avid Xbox and achievement fan, Sean has committed to playing the best RPGs, racing games, and first-person shooters Xbox Game Pass and his precious free time will allow. Prior to joining TrueAchievements, Sean gained a degree in journalism from Solent University.