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Official: GTA IV biggest entertainment launch ever

Breaks Guinness World Records. We're NOT shocked
Grand Theft Auto IV has become the most profitable entertainment release of all-time, surpassing all other video game, film and book releases. Ever.

Figures show that GTA IV sold 3.6 million units on the first day of release, earning $310 million in the process.

The previous record was held by Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, which only managed to scrape together $220 million in its initial twenty-four hours. How pathetic, Potter...

Unsurprisingly its closest video game rival was Halo 3. The Bungie shooter made £170 million on launch.

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// Interactive
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Read all 17 commentsPost a Comment
I wonder what game that will break it next!
lyrael on 13 May '08
Surely though the biggest entertainment launch ever can't be measured by the gross monetary intake when the two products have such different unit prices?

But anyway, well done R*
The_Barron on 13 May '08
I assume Potter still sold a heck of a lot more copies, but seeing as it's a third of the price of GTA, got less overall cash.

EDIT: I apologise for pretty much writing the same as The Barron, but i didn't see his comment
MightyMoose on 13 May '08
Yowzaa! And quite deservedly so.
wudragon on 13 May '08
170 £ or $'s
plus its no surprise considering halo 3 only on 360, and gta4 on 360 & ps3
kennith123 on 13 May '08
A game like this always had the potential for this kind of record because of the price of games.
Legend6T9 on 13 May '08
Did GTA4 actually sell the largest number of units on day of release?
Goona on 13 May '08
I think only a game will break this again.

GTA V will probably do it next.

I cant think of another IP that has the mass appeal that the GTA Franchise has. Its why EA wants it.

CoD 5 maybe, if its better than CoD 4, got to be multi format to beat these sales.
Barca Azul on 13 May '08
I assume Potter still sold a heck of a lot more copies, but seeing as it's a third of the price of GTA, got less overall cash.

EDIT: I apologise for pretty much writing the same as The Barron, but i didn't see his comment

I'm glad you did as I didn't understand a word The_Barron said.
FLStyle on 13 May '08
if the games cost the same per unit as Potter was I'd be impressed. But if the last Potter book went for £40 quid a pop it would've made over £1 billion in the first 24 hours. Not wanting to take anything away from the success of GTA4 but it really is about time that the PR people working in the games industry got a sense of perspective.
OptimusFrag on 13 May '08
I wonder what game that will break it next!

GTA5?
wildhook2 on 13 May '08
@FLStyle
sorry, guess i overcomplicated the way i said that, not something you expect from a theatre studies student
The_Barron on 13 May '08
holy cash cow! Shocked
james17_17 on 13 May '08
170 £ or $'s
plus its no surprise considering halo 3 only on 360, and gta4 on 360 & ps3

Halo 3 did $300 million in sales it's first week. Not sure why Halo 3 was the only entertainment total they showed in £ instead of $, but yeah... GTA only did 10 million more on two systems. I guess "shattering" looks a little silly when you see it was really only 4% more then Halo 3's total. A little misleading on CVG's part.

We'll probably never see another game do as much as Halo 3 on a single platform... until Halo 4, anyways.
Reace on 13 May '08
two games have the potential - not saying they will - only saying they have the potential to beat halo3... MGS4 & GT5 it will be very interesting to see how Metal Gear does next month.
TheLaggerKing on 13 May '08
As much as I would like MGS4 to do well I can't see it hitting them kinda numbers. I for one will be getting it. And don't care one bit about them people trying to knock down MGS4's crown but if MGS3 was anything to go by this game will be something really special.
gogo65uk on 13 May '08
two games have the potential - not saying they will - only saying they have the potential to beat halo3... MGS4 & GT5 it will be very interesting to see how Metal Gear does next month.

Nope. Neither will come even close. Much more Niche-y titles. Think about the massive install base the PS2 had. No MSG or GT ever made any noise as far as launch numbers go, why would MGS or GT on the PS3 be any different with a much smaller install base? Not gonna happen.
Reace on 13 May '08
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