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Grand Theft Auto IV Breaks UK Day One Records
by David Jenkins [Console/PC]
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May 1, 2008
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Initial data from regular UK chart compiler Chart-Track has shown that Grand Theft Auto IV has broken the all formats first day sales record previously set by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on the PlayStation 2 in 2004.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sold 501,000 units in its first twenty-four hours, but Grand Theft Auto IV is estimated to have sold 609,000 units on its debut on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
On the Xbox 360 format the previous first day sales record was Halo 3 with 266,000 units sold. This has now been eclipsed by Grand Theft Auto IV on 335,000 units.
Grand Theft Auto IV also becomes the fastest selling day one title on the PlayStation 3, although with lower sales than the Xbox 360 versions on 274,000. The previous record was set by the recent Gran Turismo 5: Prologue with 80,000 unit sales in the first 24 hours.
Chart-Track has emphasized that the electronic point of sales data is only preliminary and in some cases based on retailer estimates. Definitive figures are expected to be released on Tuesday of next week (delayed a day because of the British bank holiday on Monday) alongside the standard weekly sales chart.
However, direct comparisons of first week sales will be skewed by Grand Theft Auto IV’s atypical release on a Tuesday – were most new games in the UK are released on a Friday.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch indicated that the first day figures were “not surprising,” and that “the only issue is how much stock is available for the rest of the week”. With the game suffering stock problems from the first hour of release, Bloch suggested that initial sales could have been even higher if not for such issues.
Even without the extra three days of sales, Grand Theft Auto IV is expected to become the fastest selling game ever in the UK next week, taking over from the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
The other top ten fastest selling games in the UK are Halo 3 (Xbox 360), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PlayStation 2), Gran Turismo 4 (PlayStation 2), Halo 2 (Xbox), Wii Fit (Wii), Pro Evolution Soccer 5 (PlayStation 2), Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (PlayStation 2), Mario Kart Wii (Wii) and FIFA 07 (PlayStation 2).
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