The long-awaited latest installment of the Take-Two’s (TTWO) Grand Theft Auto franchise hit stores April 29 and is expected to bring in record breaking sales.
Sales of Grand Theft Auto IV could reach $400 million by the end of the week, according to reports. That would smash the record setting $300 million earned by last year's top game, Halo 3 (MSFT).
To date the 11-year-old video game has sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest selling video game franchises ever. And, with more pop culture goodies than ever (like a surprise appearance by a virtual Ricky Gervais) this latest addition could drive GTA to the top game earner's spot.
Check out how the GTA franchise measures up against some of pop cultures greatest record breakers:
TITANIC
1997’s blockbuster, Titanic brought in $1.8 billion in worldwide box office sales, making it the highest-grossing film of all time. GTA will have to sell 28 million copies to steam past Titanic.
BARBIE
Mattel (MAT) has sold more than an estimated 1 billion of its fashion doll, Barbie, worldwide since her creation in 1959. If GTA, which first went on sale in 1997, maintains its rate of sales for the next 38 years, it will sell approximately 242 million more copies, reaching about 33% of Barbie’s 49-year sales volume.
iTUNES
As of January 9, 2008 Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes had sold more than 4 billion songs, surpassing Wal-Mart (WMT) as America’s number one music store. GTA IV will have a hard time competing with iTunes’ record but they have set a music record of their own. It is the first game to allow players to tag songs for purchase online and offers the largest soundtrack of any video game with over 200 songs and 18 game-based radio stations (one of which features purely original music by artists such as Busta Rhymes).
