GTA has made over $100m on mobile – and now Tencent, Garena and more are moving onto Rockstar’s turf

 

With the GTA 6 launch looming large over the entire games business, we’ve had a look at Rockstar’s own games and the wider ‘GTA-alike’ category on mobile to see which other studios are trying to ride the wave of hype coming our way this November.

Rockstar’s GTA games

When it comes to the real GTA games, AppMagic estimates suggest Rockstar has earned combined lifetime revenue of $109.9m from the iOS and Android editions. These figures stretch back as far as 2010 for Chinatown Wars, so that’s well over a decade of cumulative earnings.

Here are each game’s estimated lifetime revenue and download figures, according to AppMagic:

• Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: $5.1m revenue, 295k downloads
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: $64.3m revenue, 7.5m downloads
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: $18.5m revenue, 2.4m downloads
• Grand Theft Auto III: $9m revenue, 1.3m downloads
• GTA: San Andreas – Definitive: $1.6m revenue, 183k downloads
• GTA: Vice City – Definitive: $810k revenue, 7.5m downloads
• GTA III – Definitive: $445k revenue, 3.4m downloads
• GTA: Liberty City Stories: $5.8m revenue, 39.8m downloads
• GTA: Chinatown Wars: $4.5m revenue, 15.3m downloads

Because these games are premium, though, these revenue numbers are naturally way below what a large-scale, big-brand free to play game typically earns. So there are plenty of other contenders out there, both live on the store now and incoming, that are looking to cater to that market.

The new contender
NTE: Neverness to Everness (Hotta Studio)

Known to many online as “anime GTA”, Neverness to Everness has generated around $38.9m since its global launch on April 24, 2026, according to AppMagic. It has been downloaded around 10m times, says the data firm.

Developer Hotta is the team behind open world RPG Tower of Fantasy, and NTE published by Perfect World Games. It’s available on PC, PS5, iOS and Android now.

The live games out now OneState RP: Role Play Online (Chillbase)

Chillbase’s GTA-like released in April 2022, and has quietly earned an estimated $75.7m since, with 43% of those earnings from players in the US. AppMagic says it has earned 57.5m downloads to date, with Brazil (19%) and the US (16%) the top markets.

It’s currently the top search ad on the App Store when you search “GTA”, suggesting a clearly targeted effort to sweep up those players.

Gangstar Vegas (Gameloft)

Gangstar Vegas is the oldest game on this list. Released in 2013 and developed by Gameloft Montreal, it is estimated to have clocked up 200m lifetime downloads and $33.4m lifetime revenue.

It still has a strong presence in GTA-related searches on the App Store, but is only earning about $50k per month from IAPs.

The GTA-likes in soft launch
Gangstar Mirage City (Tencent)

Currently in a Philippines-only soft launch, Gangstar Mirage City appears to be a GTA/Cyberpunk-like hybrid published by Tencent’s Level Infinite, officially licensed from Gameloft. A wider rollout across Eastern Europe, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East is confirmed for August 20, 2026. If it makes it through soft launch and Tencent puts its weight behind it, it could be a significant threat to Take-Two’s official offerings.

Garena Free City (Garena)

From the minds behind the monster battle royale Free Fire, this one is close to 20 months into soft launch, having first appeared on Android in Argentina before expanding to the Philippines, Algeria, Egypt and other smaller markets.

It has generated already pulled in 1.4m downloads from soft launch, but is not monetising well. Garena is an experienced mobile game-maker and has obviously had huge success with Free Fire, so if this makes it out of soft launch it could be a real contender.

Pure Crime: Gangster Shooting (Miniclip)

Miniclip’s Derby studio is behind this one, another GTA-like title under the Tencent umbrella that seems to take more cues from the PS2-era titles. It quietly entered soft launch in the UK and Philippines last summer, says AppMagic, but it’s not generating any meaningful revenue yet.