You'd think that with all the talk surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6 ever since it was officially announced that it'd be one of the most searched games on Google year-in and year-out - but you'd be wrong. Despite gamers constantly voting for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto title at the Golden Joysticks and The Game Awards, it actually isn't something that people consistently search for.
In fact, according to Google's "Year in Search 2025" rankings, GTA 6 is just the ninth-most searched game of 2025, with Arc Raiders topping the charts followed by Battlefield 6, Strands, Split Fiction, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 rounding the Top 5. So, what gives? Is GTA 6 not as popular as many analysts and critics are making it out to be?
While search volume is definitely one way to measure how popular something is, it isn't the only metric. Otherwise, GTA wouldn't be seen as that popular a title, even though the number suggest otherwise. Despite constantly being one of the best-selling games year in and year out ever since launching, Grand Theft Auto V was only the top trending term on Google once: the year that it came out when it was the No. 1 trending video game searched in the United States while ranking highly on global lists.
Since then, no other GTA game has come close. In fact, this is the first time GTA 6 was searched this much by everyone. You'd think that the Epic Games Store GTA V giveaway in 2020, release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition in 2021, the GTA 6 leaks in 2022, and the debut of the first GTA 6 trailer in 2023 would've led to a massive enough spike in GTA search volume, but you'd be wrong.
Get GTA BOOM in your feed.
Mark GTA BOOM as a "Preferred Source" on Google so our GTA 6 and GTA Online updates show up first.
This can only mean that the GTA 6 hype still has yet to peak. As much as GTA 6 continues to break and set records and inspire commercials ahead of its launch on November 19, 2026, the fact remains that the hype hasn't reached much of the casual audience yet. So while it may seem like everyone on the internet is looking forward for the release of GTA 6, not too many are curious about the game right now.
This isn't a problem - this is an opportunity for Take-Two Interactive. With CEO Strauss Zelnick promising tighter marketing windows, we can expect the billboards, advertisements, and possibly even movie tie-in trailers, to come out as early as next year, and when that happens, you'd best bet that this number will reflect on Google and other metrics.
It's amazing thinking that, despite major events in subsequent years and the franchise pretty much outselling most of its contemporaries, none of the games could crack the global "Year in Search" top 10 Games list over the past decade. Can you imagine just how the internet would look like when that happens? We can only hope that we don't see a repeat of what Dan Houser just said about the government once cracking down GTA because of its success.
Until this day arrives, GTA fans can keep themselves busy with Grand Theft Auto Online and its upcoming "A Safehouse in the Hills" update.
