It looks like the world is obsessed with stealing cars, blowing up stuff and finding their way in life through criminal acts and wonton mischief.
Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto V," released on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 on Sept. 17, has already sold 15 million copies, according to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz, who also said the game could set a record for annual sales.
"If you are looking at sales over a finite time period, say one year, it almost certainly will be. Some of the Nintendo titles have sold more (overall) – Wii Sports, which shipped with the Wii, sold over 80MM units and Super Mario Brothers has sold over 40MM units, but those are over many year periods," Cruetz said. "There have probably been mobile titles that have ‘sold’ many more copies, though we’re talking much lower dollar amounts."
According to Cruetz, the game sold 60 percent of of its first year units in just three days and is expected to sell at least 25 million copies overall. By comparison, Cruetz said, the "Call of Duty" video game series, arguably the top selling franchise in the industry today, only usually sells 45-60 percent of its first year units in its first week of availability.
"Grand Theft Auto V" also made $1 billion in sales by the game's third day on the retail market. The game's publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software, pointed out in a release that it took the motion picture "The Avengers" 10 days to accomplish the same feat.
“Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two in the press release.
