Big Shock: Incredible First Day Sales for GTA IV

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According to industry tracker VG Chartz, early sales data indicates that Grand Theft Auto IV has sold a whopping 2.5 million units in the Americas on its first day of release. This is hot on the heels of reports that the game has sold over 600,000 copies in the UK on its first day, and an estimated 1.7 million units across Europe.

Currently, the game with the most successful launch in history is Microsoft’s Halo 3, which earned about $170 million in the US during the first 24 hours of its release. However, it appears that Rockstar’s long-awaited title is poised to take the crown from Microsoft’s bestseller.

On a related note, GTA IV sales gave Microsoft the edge in the console wars, as more consumers bought the Xbox 360 version of the game than the PlayStation 3 version. A similar pattern was found in the UK, with the Xbox 360 comprising 55% of the total Day 1 sales.

Source: VGChartz, MCV.UK

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  • Slogn

    Umm…how exactly did GTA give MS a lead in the console wars when MS had OVER 55% market share (Sony vs MS…..Wii not included). If MS had over a 55% share and only sold 55% of the copies, that means Sony is actually gaining because of the launch. It’s fairly simple math…..

  • Dan Landis

    Slogn,

    Worldwide data puts the 360 version at around 60%. This is pretty much on par with the current hardware market share split between the PS3 (12 million) and the 360 (18 million). The reason this is a win for Microsoft is because GTA is traditionally a Playstation franchise. The fact that the 360 version sold more, regardless of market share, looks good for Microsoft.

  • Slogn

    Yes, but the story references :sold a whopping 2.5 million units in the Americas on its first day of release.

    In the Amercia’s, MS holds a 71% share between the 2 consoles. So a 55% share of GTA 4 means that sony is either selling units or has more loyal customers. Pretty straight forward

  • Toni

    As Dan said, these numbers are only looking at day 1 sales, not overall market share. Also, that 55% is referring to UK sales.

  • LC

    the ps3 is supposedly selling faster then the 360 hitting the 12 million mark 5 months faster then the 360 did, with only 6 million consoles separating its not difficult to see sony evening out pretty quickly.

  • http://www.savetheinternet.com/ DavidGX

    Good show for the 360. Honestly I don’t know why anyone would buy the ps3 version, if the 360 version was an option.

  • Slogn

    David,

    Since you “don’t know why any would buy the PS3 version” that makes your comments irrelevant. Either you’re ignorant of the valid reasons or you’re just trying to justify your purchase. Either way, you’re always going to have an empty feeling and you’ll never know why.

  • pixelsword

    The PS3 had the graphical edge, and with the DLC for the 360 coming out in October when I’ll likely be bored of it, so the PS3 will be the version to buy for me. The 360 version had pop-ups. The PS3 version hangs on the 60gb version if you’re online, but I heard it was doing that to both consoles. I’m a graphics fan, so given that the PS3 version has that advantage the case was closed for me.

  • LC

    the pop in isn’t that bad on the 360 version.

  • Slogn

    From what I’ve seen at my friends house, the pop isn’t horrible on the 360, but it is a constant thing through the game. I do see it on the PS3 as well, just not nearly as much. They should have given a hard drive install option on the 360 and that would not have been an issue for owners of 360′s with hard drives. I haven’t seen a breakdown of the 360 sales, but maybe the unit without the hard drive is one of the better sellers and they didn’t want to upset the customer base? That’s completely out of the air…….just a guess.

    Since optional hard drive installs have been around for years on PCs, I know they could have done an “optional” install. So something else held them back……I’d love to know what it was.

  • pixelsword

    Slogn has a point, I am curious why the 360 didn’t have an optional install. I know the pop-up isn’t “terrible” on the 360, but it is constant. For me pop-ups, if consistent, takes me out of the world and makes the game feel “gamey” instead of an experience; especially if it wants to be worthy of the term “next-gen”. Although both of them have pop-up, the PS3 has less, so that was a plus for me.

  • LC

    don’t play mass effect then… its awfully gamey. lol

    Wasn’t final fantasy 11 an install? So technically its possible, I guess. It may have to do with the vast majority of hdd-less 360′s and all those 11 gig 360′s, one install and ur done.

    I doubt it will ever be a I major supported feature on 360 because it either requires an elite console or a $200 upgrade, I’d say that limits the potential user base quite significantly making it a wasted feature unworthy of being implemented.

    I couldn’t find an elite during the 360 shortage so I have the hard drive of small. Sony did right with there user replaceable hdd’s, you gotta love them for that.