GTA IV Sales at $500 Million in First Week
By Barbara Ortutay
USA Today
Grand Theft Auto IV raked in more than $500 million in its first week in stores, selling more than 6 million units worldwide, the video game’s publisher said Wednesday.
The highly anticipated title from Take-Two Interactive Software has received stellar ratings along with criticism for its violent content. The game follows Eastern European immigrant-turned gangster Niko Bellic on crime missions around a fictional Liberty City.
The title sold about 3.6 million units on April 29, its opening day, bringing in roughly $310 million. This is $10 million more than what Microsoft Corp.’s Halo 3, another blockbuster game, took in during its first week last fall.
The game has lifted sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, the two consoles for which it is available.
Without giving numbers, Microsoft said Xbox 360 sales jumped 54% in the week following the title’s launch, compared with the prior week, and more than 2.3 million people played it on its Xbox Live online service.
“Retailers say roughly four out of every 10 Xbox 360 consoles sold also included the sale of a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV,” said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management at Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
Sony spokeswoman Laura Bakken said the company’s 10 largest retailers have “all seen a pretty substantial lift” in PS3 sales, but she did not give specifics.
New York-based Take-Two is the subject of a $2 billion hostile buyout from larger rival Electronic Arts, which Take-Two has repeatedly rebuffed as too low.
Take-Two’s shares were recently trading at $26.30, above EA’s tender offer of $25.74 per share, which expires May 16. Unless EA is willing to offer more, it seems “increasingly possible” the acquisition attempt could unravel, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said in a note to investors.
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[...] DailyGame Video Game News, Reviews and Previews + Home Entertainment wrote an interesting post today on GTA IV Sales at $500 Million in First WeekHere’s a quick excerptGrand Theft Auto IVraked in more than $500 million in its first week in stores, selling more than 6 million units worldwide, the video game’s [...]
[...] Balanced News Blog wrote an interesting post today on GTA IV Sales at $500 Million in First WeekHere’s a quick excerptGrand Theft Auto IV raked in more than $500 million in its first week in stores, selling more than 6 million units worldwide, the video game’s publisher said Wednesday…. [...]