More cash from one game than 10 Bond films

In a compensation deal unique to the video-gaming industry, Sam and Dan Houser, the brothers responsible for Grand Theft Auto, will get most of an expected $538 million in royalties this year, thanks to their latest, Red Dead Redemption II, due Friday.

The British-born brothers and a few key insiders share half the profits of Rockstar Games, the Take-Two Interactive Software subsidiary that makes both titles, according to a lawsuit filed by a former employee. Last year, Take-Two distributed $383 million in what it called internal royalties.

Take-Two said its compensation programs allow employees to join in the success of software they help develop. The company declined to say how much of it went to the Housers. Gerrick Johnson of BMO Capital Markets estimated the brothers received the bulk.

“As long as Grand Theft Auto is chugging along, no one seems to care,” Johnson said. The Housers’ haul shows just how far video games have come since the days of Pong and Space Invaders. The industry is expected to bring in $138 billion this year, according to market researcher Newzoo. Red Dead II will sell at least 15 million copies by the end of the year, analysts said, at a retail price starting at $60 for the base package.

Grand Theft Auto V, the latest installment of the shoot-’em-up gangster series, has sold nearly 100 million copies and generated over $6 billion in revenue.