‘Grand Theft Auto 5′ PC Petition Surpasses 550,000 Signatures

Two weeks have passed since Grand Theft Auto 5 was released for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and fans of Rockstar’s action-adventure franchise have undoubtedly been clocking in plenty of hours in the world of Los Santos. Players that braved the connectivity issues were even able to get their first taste of Grand Theft Auto Online last night. Although console owners are living it up in Rockstar’s latest sandbox, PC gamers are still anxiously awaiting an official announcement of a PC port of GTA5. Instead of waiting quietly, an impressive number of PC gamers are making it their mission to remind Rockstar to let them in on the fun.

A petition to bring GTA 5 to the PC is rapidly approaching its million signature target. At this point, over 570,000 supporters have taken the time to endorse the petition. The fact that the petition has only been live for a week and has already surpassed the half million mark should help rule out any possible doubts about PC gamers’ interest in purchasing GTA 5.

The petition’s creator, Mike Julliard, set the online petition up so each new signature would trigger a notification email directed at Rockstar. He has since added the distributor, Take-Two Interactive, to the list of recipients. It’s unlikely that the petition will have any real impact on Rockstar’s decision about if and when to release GTA 5 for the PC, but it’s certainly a question we’re all waiting to hear the answer to.

Last November, Rockstar vice president Dan Houser said that the studio hadn’t ruled out releasing the newest GTA sequel on additional platforms and admitted that GTA 5 for PC was “up for consideration.” Just a few weeks ago, Houser spoke out about potential ports for GTA 5 again and delivered a clear message that Rockstar is not interested in bringing the game to next-gen consoles at this time. The Rockstar VP didn’t mention the PC in his statement, so there is still hope.

Fans of GTA 4 may recall the seven month window of time between the game’s release on consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3) and its port to the PC. With no official word from Rockstar yet, it seems increasingly likely that no matter how many signatures Mike Julliard’s petition gathers, PC players will have at least a few months left of waiting before they can start boosting cars in Los Santos.

It may sound silly for Rockstar to sit by silently while over a half million fans claim they want to shell out $60 for a PC version, but GTA 5 is already pulling in plenty of dough without any help from PC sales. Xbox 360 and PS3 owners swarmed stores when the game was released and picked up an estimated 15 million units in the first week alone. Combine those sales figures with whatever revenue is generated by microtransactions in GTA Online and it becomes pretty clear that the game is already a cash cow.

GTA 5′s solid review scores and word-of-mouth popularity will likely help the theoretical PC port move plenty of extra units whether it is released a month or eight months from now. Would you be less likely to buy a PC version of GTA 5 if it wasn’t released until after the 2013 holiday season?