3 Days in, $1 Billion Up for Rockstar Games
posted Saturday Sep 21, 2013 by Scott Ertz
If you have been paying attention to your social media feeds over the past 2 weeks, you already knew that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto V was going to have a huge opening. If you read any of the reviews online, you could probably have guessed that it was going to have a record-setting release. But, how did it do in reality?
The fifth major installment in the franchise raked in $800 million in its first day of sales. That is an impressive number, especially with a development cost somewhere in the $250 million range. Now, not all of that money goes to Rockstar, as these are retail not wholesale numbers, but it is a good indication that development costs were paid off day 1.
The game hit its $1 billion mark on day 3, far ahead of the previous record holder. At the launch of Activision's Call Of Duty: Black Ops II, it took a then record-breaking 15 days to hit that mark. That is 5 times longer than the new Rockstar game took for the same milestone. CEO Strauss Zelnick said in an interview,
Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment. We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V.
Now, while the company has not announced plans to include the title on the upcoming Xbox One or PlayStation 4 consoles, there is logical speculation that it will be available, possibly at launch. If the company can maintain enough steam to sell the title again, or for some a first time, on the new consoles, investors will be all over the already successful developer for future titles.
