'GTA IV' Registers Biggest Day in US Entertainment History with $310 Million in Sales

'Grand Theft Auto IV' broke the all-time records for single-day and one-week entertainment industry sales – including video games, cinema, music and literature.

On Last Wednesday (7th May), Take-Two Interactive, which owns GTA IV developer Rockstar Games, announced that the new game had raked in all-time records of $310 million on its launch day of April 29 and $500 million during its first week.

The previous record was J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows', the final book in that cash-cow series, which when it launched last July, earned $220 million in its first 24 hours.

The best video game launches had far outdone those by the best films. ('Spider-Man 3' has a record of the biggest Opening Weekend by $151 Millions in sales.)


Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two said, "We knew Grand Theft Auto IV would break new ground in terms of the player's experience, with its compelling story line, extraordinary gameplay and action that ranges over a broad urban canvas."

"Now, it has broken sales and rating records as well. Grand Theft Auto IV's first week performance represents the largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment, and we believe these retail sales levels surpass any movie or music launch to date. We congratulate the entire Rockstar team on creating a must-have experience that takes the legendary Grand Theft Auto franchise to a new level," he added.


GTA's single-day sales shattered the previous record for a video game, set last September by 'Halo 3', of $170 million. And given how quickly 'Halo 3' was reduced to second place, it stands to reason that even this record could be in danger from some another game already in the pipeline.

Among the games that are set to be released in the next few months that seem like potential contenders: Electronic Arts' 'Spore', Blizzard Entertainment's 'StarCraft II', Konami's 'Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots', EA's 2009 version of 'Madden football', LucasArts' 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed', Activision's next 'Guitar Hero' offering, Harmonix's next 'Rock Band' version and Nintendo's 'Wii Fit'.

And since we're talking the entire entertainment industry, there's also the small matter of the forthcoming 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' from Paramount and LucasFilm.


But according to several industry experts contacted for this story, none of those titles seems likely to score the kind of cash in a single day or single week that GTA IV did. So while one of those games, or possibly another one not listed might some day best GTA IV in total sales, it seems that its short-term sales records are safe for the foreseeable future.

So, it could be a long time before anyone bests the record-shattering sales achieved by GTA IV.

I would like to add here that, for the last couple of months, EA had been trying to buy Take-Two Interactive, which has a record-breaking hit on its hands. And EA isn't pocketing the cash!