Photos: Getty Images and Rockstar Games
Let's face it. Most of us pride ourselves on feeding our brains what we consider to be meaningful knowledge or information about how various industries, like the automotive industry, work. But, every now and then, we love a little gossip about who did what, and such. For example, anyone who has seen Ben Affleck looking angry in photos next to J. Lo has probably wondered what all the fuss was about.
As juicy as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's alleged divorce may be, we won't get into that kind of gossip. Okay, maybe after the alleged split, when we find out who gets the Mercedes-AMG SQA 53 4MATIC+ A sedan that can go from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds thanks to its 751 horsepower (761 PS) and 752 pound-feet (1,020 Nm) of torque, but not a moment sooner.
Today, we are heading in another direction, or two almost opposite directions, you might say. According to the Sunday Times' August 2024 “UK Gaming Rich List,” Grand Theft Auto creators Sam and Dan Houser have reached the “filthy rich” status rivaled by Sir Lewis Hamilton himself.
The publication claims that the Housers and Sir Hamilton are tied at £350 million (British pounds), equivalent to about $453 million US. That’s not bad for a couple of English lads whose games have drawn media outcry for immoral depictions of violence and the like. Even the Scottish secretary at the time of GTA 1, Lord Campbell of Croy, had some less-than-kind words to say about the game in the House of Lords, according to The Guardian.
Fortunately for their success, the tendency to blame didn't stop with the first GTA and most likely never will. If it makes headlines or gets clicks, it fuels the press outrage machine, in turn increasing popularity and sales.
The Houser brothers founded Rockstar Games in 1998 under Take-Two Interactive and have sold over 430 million copies of Grand Theft Auto across the franchise as of August 2024. GTA V represents over 200 million, earning over $10,000,000,000 (yes, billion) in net pre-orders to date. With GTA VI scheduled for a Fall 2025 release window, there’s nothing standing in the way of Rockstar Games and Take-Two’s continued success.
Together, the companies have produced some of the most successful and well-received video game titles in history, including L.A. Noire, Bully, Max Payne 2 and 3, and the Red Dead Redemption franchise, which has sold over 91 million units, of which RDR II has sold over 65 million. While it’s wishful thinking at this point, a Red Dead Redemption III will very likely also reach the 100+ million sales threshold at some point during its lifetime.
The Houser brothers took fourth place on the “Gaming Rich List,” with Candy Crush's Riccardo Zacconi in third place, with a net worth of 410 million ($531 million), and The Metaverse's Herman Narula in second place with over 780 million ($1 billion). The top spot goes to Igor and Dmitry Bukhman (brothers) of Playrix, with over £1.254 billion, equivalent to over $1.62 billion in the United States.