14 DAY TRIAL // Grand Theft Auto 5, the latest iteration in the hugely successful open world franchise from Rockstar Games, will easily reach $1 billion (€750 million) in sales before the end of the month, largely because of the huge demand for the title that's out today for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
GTA V has been a long time coming, with developer Rockstar teasing it ever since the release of the previous installment, Grand Theft Auto IV.
Since then, it's slowly started to reveal screenshots, videos, and new info about the open world title, while fans have rushed to check out any plausible leak.
Now that the game is currently being released worldwide today, September 17, RW Baird analyst Colin Sebastian has revealed that the game will easily reach $1 billion (€750 million) in sales before the end of the month.
"To-date, Take Two has shipped roughly 25 million units worldwide of GTA IV, and our checks suggest an uptick in catalog sales in the weeks ahead of tonight's GTA V launch.
"Given the significantly higher installed base of relevant console platforms at launch, greater sales concentration among the top video game franchises, and unprecedented pent-up demand, we expect GTA V to outpace GTA IV sales, and generate roughly $1 billion in retail sales during the first month," he said, via GamesIndustry.
What's more, Sebastian believes that, before the end of the year, over 12 million units will be shipped by developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take Two, and that number will grow to 20 million by the end of March.
"Given strong pre-order volumes, little direct competition in the launch window, and strong follow-on sales likely through the holiday period, we believe there is good visibility in Take Two hitting these GTA targets, and potentially exceeding our estimates," he added.
It's unclear, however, if GTA V will be the best selling game of the year, as many of its rivals are going to debut on many other platforms besides the PS3 and Xbox 360.