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Businesses Stats The Almighty Buck Games

GTA V Makes $800 Million In 24 Hours 396

An anonymous reader writes "The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V was released at midnight yesterday, and to no surprise has managed to break the record for highest sales in 24 hours. Distributors Take-Two Interactive have announced that the game has managed to achieve a staggering $800m (£490m) worth of sales within the first day, and is certainly going to break the forecasted $1 billion within the week. The record was previous held by Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops which made $500m within 24 hours in 2009. The game also holds the title for the quickest entertainment product to achieve $1 billion in sales as they hit the mark by day 15."
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GTA V Makes $800 Million In 24 Hours

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  • No PC yet (Score:5, Insightful)

    by phizi0n ( 1237812 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @04:35AM (#44891741)

    Those numbers would be even higher if they stopped shunning their roots by delaying PC releases and turning PC into a shitty port from consoles.

    • You can have a refined, bug-free, well-performing PC release after the console versions are done, or you can have a crappy, poorly optimised version day-and-date with the console release, but you can't have both. Rockstar North favour the former. EA has you well served with the latter, if for some reason you prefer it.

      Unless you're suggesting they should've just sat on the finished console versions for a few months while they finished the PC release, just to save you from feeling slighted.

      • Re:No PC yet (Score:5, Insightful)

        by phizi0n ( 1237812 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @05:28AM (#44891921)

        You can have a refined, bug-free, well-performing PC release after the console versions are done, or you can have a crappy, poorly optimised version day-and-date with the console release, but you can't have both. Rockstar North favour the former.

        How do you explain GTA4? It was delayed a year and performed like shit on PC when it was released. GTA was originally a PC game and they have been treating PC as a second class citizen lately.

        • Re:No PC yet (Score:5, Informative)

          by dingen ( 958134 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @06:08AM (#44892041)

          GTA was originally a PC game and they have been treating PC as a second class citizen lately.

          If by "lately" you mean "since 1999", then I suppose you're right. GTA hasn't been a PC game for a looooong time.

        • Taking time is a necessary but not sufficient condition for doing a good job. I'm not sure what platform the first GTA game came out in matters to this discussion; as a game completed for MS-DOS and latterly ported to other platforms it's hardly relevant to the multiplatform development of a modern game..

      • Battlefield 3 would be an example. Launched the same day on all platforms and worked well on all of them.

        It really isn't a big deal to simultaneously develop for multiple platforms and when you get down to it the PC is likely more similar to the Xbox 360 than the 360 is to the PS3 in terms of development tools and style.

        The problem is Rockstar are console heads, for various reasons, and relegate the PC release to second class status.

        You can also see it with shit like GTA 4. Not only did it come out way afte

        • The problem is Rockstar are console heads, for various reasons, and relegate the PC release to second class status.

          I would call $800m worth of sales in 24 hours after launch a large number of really good reasons.

          Would they have sold that much if they'd released PC only? Would the product have been as well tested if they released for both?

          PC gamers might not be happy they don't get the title on release day -- but in terms of maximizing their sales/product release schedule, I'd say from a corporate perspecti

        • by cawpin ( 875453 )

          Launched the same day on all platforms and worked well on all of them.

          You're joking, right? It STILL doesn't work WELL on XBox 360. At launch it was one of, if not THE, buggiest games I've ever played on a console.

    • Re:No PC yet (Score:5, Informative)

      by aiadot ( 3055455 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @06:14AM (#44892069)
      I disagree with that and for two reasons. First, while there is a chance the total sales of PC+PS3+360 may be bigger than PS3+360 alone, that doesn't always hold true, as sometimes the only thing you succeed in is in shifting the console sales to the PC(not even talking about piracy). Also actively supporting PCs increase the development and marketing and post sale supporting costs. Yes I know that console games are developed on PCs and most likely Rockstar has a working build of GTA5 for their PCs, but, as you said yourself, they are not optimized and most likely will require monster PCs to run well (see GTA4). Second, and IMO most important reason, marketing 101 dictates that you should milk the cashcow as much as possible. If you release such an overhyped mainstream game on a limited selection of platforms such as current gen consoles you WILL attract people from other platforms such as the PC and the people waiting for the next gen consoles regardless. Then you re-release the game on the next gen consoles with better graphics and performance, inducing a lot of people to rebuy your game. Then, finally, you release your game on the PC, inducing a final third wave of sales. You must remember that Rockstar just like the overwhelming majority of game companies, publishers or "indies", are not "for-gamer" but for-profit corporation. It's part of their mission to minimax their losses and profits above anything.
    • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @12:48PM (#44895305)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • by AbRASiON ( 589899 ) * on Thursday September 19, 2013 @04:46AM (#44891775) Journal

    The game is incredible, if you're a fan of the GTA series, they've really addressed many issues with the game. The storyline is told better and more compelling than previous ones (that includes Gay Tony, which was quite good)

    The graphics / environment / effects - god knows how they achieved this, I do not know. Yes some things like Uncharted look nicer but they are a very linear closed environment. For an open world game, it's utterly staggering. I'm playing on PS3 and the resolution seems higher than GTA4, there's more detail and there's more you can do AND the draw distance is further. The frame rate while not a flawless 30 all the time seems honestly better than GTAIV at most times.

    The humour, satire, writing in general is utterly tip top. I am not cringing at lines or groaning at character decisions. As usual the commercials (billboard, radio, TV) are just fantastic, some of the random one liners amazing. The stuff they've added like the random mission encounters are awesome. I really can't complain about this at all in any way.
    I'm about 35 hours into it (picked it up midnight Monday night) and about 2/3 of the way through it I'd say. It's just brilliant, it really is.
    If you want to wait for the PC or oft wished for PS4 editions, go for it - but posting in reply here how inferior this is, pointless - the game is great, you can play it right now. If you want to complain that it's crap because "it doesn't do XYZ that Saints Row does" - good for you, hit up Saints Row!
    This world blends together so many immersive things, it's just incredible. I love the shit out of this game.
    $89 AUD? In hindsight I think I would've gladly paid $189 AUD. Just brilliant.

    • I'm playing on PS3 and the resolution seems higher than GTA4

      That's because the resolution is higher. GTA4 ran at 1280x720 on the 360, but 1152x640 on the PS3, because the architectures between the two consoles are completely different and Rockstar had an easier time optimizing for the 360. It's the same with Saints Row 4. For GTA5, Rockstar has had a lot more time to really get to know the PS3, so consequently the game runs at full resolution on both consoles with at most a 1-2fps difference in performance in certain busy scenes (mostly in cutscenes, oddly enough).

    • The humour, satire, writing in general is utterly tip top.

      As with previous entries in the series (*), there are apparently a lot of subtle references that only people in Scotland (where the game was designed)- or at least Britain- will spot, without alienating everyone else or spoiling the atmosphere.

      Such as the fact that the small Scottish borders town of Hawick [wikipedia.org] has had its name "borrowed" for a fictional town with a "drug addict hipster vibe". [videogamer.com] They aren't too happy about it, apparently...

      (*) GTA IV San Andreas apparently included the "Garver" and "Kincaid"

  • Need more numbers (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    This is close to the highest grossing films (Avatar at 2.7 billion), but there is a difference in that we don't get to know how much a game cost and how much it sold unless the publisher wants us to.

    All films have budget and box office numbers on their Wikipedia pages and IMDB and I think it's about time that happened for video games as well.

    • Various independent estimates (presumably based on Rockstar's public financials and staff numbers) put it in at $200-$300m. That means it was about as expensive as Avatar too, assuming they both have similar marketing spends.

    • This is close to the highest grossing films (Avatar at 2.7 billion),

      You are comparing Avatar's total earnings with GTAV's first 24 hours. Avatar made about $200m on its opening weekend.

      The games industry makes Hollywood look stupid and small.

      • The highest grossing opening day for any film was $91m in the first 24 hours for the last Harry Potter movie.

  • by Thanatiel ( 445743 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @05:21AM (#44891899)

    Here at least, I've heard about the game in the "News" again and again. (Belgium)

    Such or such shop exceptionnaly opened at 22:00 so people could queue and buy the game at 00:00 (here shops are usually closed at 18:30).
    Such or such "expert" speaking about the influence on the children of such "an incredibely well done game, so realistic and with such an incredible level of freedom ...".

    Is it so amazing that, with so much coverage, people not knowing anything about games would have an incentive, an urge, to put their hands on that "phenomenon" ?

    I only remember that GTA IV was so boring, so repetitive and so identical to the previous ones that I put it aside for some other game.
    Still, GTA IV was also highly rated and heavily advertised/covered by "journalists".

    History repeats itself. Deal with it.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @05:48AM (#44891961)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I'd vote you up on this one but don't want to use my mod points. Sorry, but I want to make a comment or two about how broken slashdot has become. 1. I filter my page to give me high rating comments. Unfortunately I have to pick ALL because if I pick INTERESTING, or INFORMATIVE, or INSIGHTFUL I can't get FUNNY or any other category. So /. Why not combine at least three of these and allow me to filter on more than one category. 2. Too many mod points are given out if the system is going to continue to functio
  • by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @06:08AM (#44892035) Journal

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/young-men-impersonate-cops-buy-gta-4-article-1.1459299 [nydailynews.com]

    "Young Staten Island men impersonate police officers to skip line to buy Grand Theft Auto V
    Kirolos Abdel Sayed, 19, Matthew Kirshen, 20, and Frank Santanastoso, 19, drove to the Staten Island Mall in what appeared to be an unmarked car complete with lights and sirens only to have their fun ended by real police officers."

    • http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24127999 [bbc.co.uk]

      A man was hit with a brick and stabbed before being robbed of the much awaited Grand Theft Auto V video game in north London.

    • by tippe ( 1136385 )

      Amateurs. They obviously couldn't make it out of the police search area before being caught or finding a pay&spray. They really should have replayed GTA4 to polish up their police dodging skills...

    • by HnT ( 306652 )

      I am sure the important question here is... how many stars did they get for that???

    • "You can get your game without waiting in line!"

      Seriously it never ceases to amaze me the morons that go and do something stupid like this to get a copy of a game without waiting in line. You don't have to do that anymore. You go and order on Amazon, and they'll have it sent to your house, on release day. No waiting in line, no BS, it just gets delivered to you.

      While the irrational need to have a new game RIGHT NAO is stupid enough (and I say this as a huge gamer) you don't have to wait in line, there's jus

  • Revenues are not profits. Article title is an embarrassment.

  • by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Thursday September 19, 2013 @06:58AM (#44892293) Homepage

    Wait, so this means they also lost $2.2Billion to piracy then? I keep forgetting their fake numbers they keep trotting out on how much the companies lose to piracy.

    • I don't think Rockstar games has ever quoted piracy numbers for its products. They've expressed disappointment every time the game has leaked but they don't seem to be in the BS numbers game.

  • For income comparison. Keep in mind that GTA5 made that 800 million in one day.

    http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross [imdb.com]
    1. Avatar (2009) $760,505,847
    2. Titanic (1997) $658,672,302
    3. The Avengers (2012) $623,279,547
    4. The Dark Knight (2008) $533,316,061

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