The March 2022 release of the Enhanced Edition brought technical improvements like ray tracing and faster load times, enticing veterans to upgrade and new players to jump in.
The endurance of Los Santos in its ninth year was driven by several key factors:
The rise of roleplay servers (often tracked via FiveM) created a second life for the game on platforms like Twitch, where it consistently ranked as one of the most-watched titles.
Steam alone saw concurrent peaks as high as 162,388 players .
By the end of 2022, GTA Online wasn't just surviving; it was setting the stage for even higher peaks in the years leading up to the next installment. GTA 5 Live Player Count And Statistics - IconEra
In 2022, nearly a decade after its initial release, reached a peak of approximately 16.8 million monthly active users . Far from being a "dead game," the streets of Los Santos remained more crowded than ever, fueled by the launch of the Expanded and Enhanced edition for ninth-generation consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The 2022 Player Base at a Glance