GTA IV Blasts Its Way To New UK Sales Record May 03, 2008

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The latest outing for unscrupulous gangsters, Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV), has just managed to blow away existing UK one-day sales records.

According to sales tracking firm, Chart Track, GTA IV managed to sell a staggering 609,000 copies for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in just 24 hours. The figure, based on retail estimates and point-of-sale information, hammers the previous record held by its predecessor, GTA: San Andreas, since 2004. That managed to sell 501,000 copies for the PS2.

The game has already garnered some of the best overall reviews of any game, not too mention the odd bit of controversy – well, this is GTA we are talking about. The figures also show that early predictions of rampaging success were on the money.

Breaking it down into consoles, Chart Track said that 55% of the new sales went to Xbox 360 owners. That total of 335,000 units in the first 24 hours easily wiped out the previous Xbox 360 24-hour record of 266,000 copies, set by Halo 3 last September.

Still, if Halo 3’s record took a mild beating, then the previous PS3 record held by the recently launched Gran Turismo 5: Prologue looked like Rodney King after the cops were done with him. Gran Turismo sold 80,000 units for the PS3 in March on Day 1, while GTA IV managed to shift a whopping 274,000 copies on the PS3.

Chart-Track's director Dorian Bloch, speaking to Gamespot, said:

"Unless there is a real problem, and the lorries can't deliver the product, the first-week sales record [677,000 for GTA: San Andreas] is set to be trashed."

Played it yet? Does it live up to the reviews and hype?-Martin Lynch

[Gamespot]

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