GTA V = the most expensive video game production in history ($265 million).

Video games don't get much bigger than Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ: TTWO  )  Grand Theft Auto, otherwise known as GTA. With the release of Grand Theft Auto 5 on Sept. 17, the franchise moved beyond just being one of the biggest video game franchises in the world and set its sights on a larger crown; becoming the world's most successful release across all of entertainment. In just its first three days after release, Grand Theft Auto 5 ranked in more than $1 billion in sales. Compare that to this summer's biggest blockbuster at the box office, Iron Man 3, which brought in "only" $372 million in its first weekend across the globe. 

While games like Candy Crush and Angry Birds have attracted most mainstream attention on video games in the past year and have users in the hundreds of millions, the success of Grand Theft Auto 5 is a pointed illustration that big budget console games -- the game reportedly cost roughly $265 million to develop and market -- still drive global video game sales.