The records Grand Theft Auto V has already smashed are very impressive indeed, but the behemoth that is Rockstar’s latest open-world satirical love-letter to the seedy criminal underbelly of a rather warped modern-day America is not stopping just yet.

In an earnings report, parent company Take-Two Interactive told the world that GTA V has “received stellar reviews, shattered entertainment industry records, and has already sold-in nearly 29 million units to date.” In you-and-I speak, that means the company has shipped almost 29 million copies of the game to retailers worldwide. 29 million. Just… wow.

GTA V has already out-sold the lifetime sales of its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto IV on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. According to VGChartz.com, GTA IV sales totalled around 21.08 million copies, including the two expansions and the Complete Editions that were released in the five years of the game’s existence. Considering GTA V only launched on the 17th of September, those numbers are mind-blowing. It’s no wonder Take Two has shipped as many copies as it has to retail.

VGChartz.com’s records indicate that GTA V sales are currently standing at 22.34 million copies at the time of writing, leaving just seven million (or so) unsold copies from Take Two’s overall consignment. Other franchises – even perennially-huge games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed – can only dream of these numbers.

The multiplayer portion of the game launched later than the single-player campaign did, with a few connectivity issues plaguing its release, but that’s to be expected when a large portion of the 22-frickin’-million people who bought the game are dying to play the game online. Fortunately, Rockstar has sorted everything out and the game is now playable online, even here in South Africa.

What records will this monster franchise break next, I wonder?