Take-Two
Interactive Software announced today that
Grand Theft Auto IV
has surpassed the all-time records for the first day's sales and
first week sales (in dollar value). The game, which released last
Tuesday, April 29
th
,
sold approximately 6 million units worldwide in its first week in
stores. The retail value of those sales has been estimated at over
$500 million; that's $100 million to $140 million more than most
analysts were expecting.
GTA IV
also
took the opening day sales record, selling approximately 3.6 million
units, with an approximate retail value of $310 million worldwide.
|
With
these numbers, Take-Two beat out both Microsoft's opening day and
first week sales records, set by
Halo 3
in September of last year. To be fair though, as I mentioned in the
GTA
IV
launch day article
,
which unfortunately didn't make it online until later that week
because of our site glitches (see our publisher's joke
article),
GTA IV
launch
on two consoles, giving people more options to buy.
Halo 3
only released on Xbox 360.
As
for the team at Take-Tw
o,
they couldn't be happier with the game's success.
"We
knew
Grand
Theft Auto IV
would break new ground in terms of the player's experience, with its
compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges
over a broad urban canvas,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of
Take-Two, “Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well.”
Of course, there were many factors behind the game's massive sales.
There was the gigantic ad campaign, featuring television, online,
public transit ads and more. Let's not forget all of the preview
coverage from critics preceding the launch.
However,
we can't forget the people who really gave
Grand
Theft Auto IV
its biggest boost of mainstream media coverage; its detractors. If it
weren't for interest groups like MADD, a number of politicians from
around the globe and, Take-Two's biggest promoter, Florida lawyer
Jack Thompson. Without these fine
people,
Grand Theft Auto IV
would
not have received half of the mainstream media coverage it ended up
with, and thanks to them the words their viewers, readers and
constituents
heard over and over again were “
Grand
Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto IV
”.
Don't get me wrong, drunk driving is downright wrong, violence and
crime are despicable, but for all the help these people have given
Take-Two by spreading the word about the
GTA
IV
's
release, it's enough to make you think that they're working with the
promoters.