Grand Theft Auto V’ Racks in Over $1 Billion In Sales; Biggest Ent. Launch In History

Grand Theft Auto V pulled in $800 million in sales in its first 24 hours according to Take Two Interactive (TTWO) the parent company of developer and publisher Rockstar Games.

Now TTWO is reporting that in its first three days, the game has crossed the $1 billion mark. This is an extraordinary success story.

By comparison, Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 hit $500 million in day-one sales, making it the biggest entertainment launch in history at the time.

And that's not just video games. Black Ops 2 topped all media launches, including blockbuster films. Grand Theft Auto V topped the previous record by $300 million, which is no small feat.

Furthermore, Black Ops 2 didn't cross the $1 billion mark until its 15th day on sale.

Now let's take a look at the box-office.

The Avengers was the fastest film in history to hit $1 billion—19 days into its run.

In fact, both Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Avatar hit $1 billion in the same amount of time, but each film had a wider release than The Avengers.

In other words, Grand Theft Auto V not only hit $1 billion in sales faster than the fastest-grossing video game, it beat the three biggest film launches of all time by 16 days.

As David Thier pointed out recently, "Demand for big, AAA games isn't flagging, it's just been waiting for the right products."

Rockstar spent an estimated $260 million on the development of Grand Theft Auto V, but the money, time, and care put into the game's development is obviously paying dividends. Other publishers should take note.

"Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Gamescontinues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment," said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two.

"We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V."

And while the game has sparked controversy for its gratuitous violence, its depiction of women, and its glorification of crime, the mere fact that it's achieved such enormous success points to a game that has wide mainstream appeal—largely because the game offers so many choices and a tremendous number of ways to have fun.

Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer portion of the game, launches this October, which may help push the game's sales to even greater heights.

- Forbes