CEO of Take-Two, Strauss Zelnick, shared the company’s vision for the Grand Theft Auto franchise and some statistics on GTA Online’s popularity.

Despite the popularity of the series, Take-Two and Rockstar have always reiterated the fact that they don’t intend to turn Grand Theft Auto into an annualized franchside to uphold the quality of the series. “It is great that consumers anticipate our titles, like they anticipate the next James Bond film. Our goal is to create permanent franchises,” Zelnick noted to MCV, via VG247.

“A few years ago, we’d launch a title, it would be sold physically, then we would sell catalogue versions of it. Today we launch a title, and often – if not always – put out DLC. We’ve talked about recurrent consumer spending, where we have offerings where fans can engage and spend money on an on-going basis.”

Speaking of money spent continuously, GTA Online has proven very profitable to Take-Two. “With GTA V, we have sold 32.5m units in to date, which is extraordinary. 70 per cent of people that have played GTA V while online have played GTA Online, which is a free-to-play experience. And recurrent consumer spending related to GTA Online represented nearly half of our digitally delivered revenue in the quarter. So people are voting that they want to stay engaged and they are voting with their wallets.”