14 DAY TRIAL // Jesse Divnich, an analyst watching the video game industry for EEDAR, says that he expects to see the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V move no less than 25 million copies during its first year on sale, although a lot might depend on the actual market conditions when the game is introduced.
The analyst tells NowGamer that, “The HD market is softening as we enter into the tail end of this generation, but fortunately this softening has had little impact on our precious AAA titles.”
He adds, “I have little concerns about when it is released. GTA IV already proved to the market that even an April release, which has historically been avoided by the industry, can support a 20M+ title. Whether April, June, or even Winter, I’d expect GTA V to sell in upwards of 25M copies in its first 12 months.”
The biggest unknown factor for the launch of Grand Theft Auto V is exactly when it will take place.
Developer Rockstar and publisher Take Two have only mentioned spring 2013, which is a bit vague.
Some have taken the period to mean before March 31, when the fiscal year ends, while others believe that Rockstar is aiming for the same May gap in the overall video game launch schedule that it has put to good use for the release of other titles, like Red Dead Redemption and L.A. Noire.
The Grand Theft Auto series has become one of the biggest in the world of video games, mainly because it manages to deftly mix an open-world structure, solid narratives, interesting characters while adding a lot of irony and humor to the mix.
GTA V will take place in the city of Los Santos, which is modeled on the real-world Los Angeles and the surrounding South California areas.
The game is prepared for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.