Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 selling better than Playstation 3

Breaking news on Variety... I have learned from good sources who know what Take-Two is selling into retail that "Grand Theft Auto IV" is poised to gross over $400 million worldwide in its first week, beating the record set in September by "Halo 3," which grossed $300 million.

Also, while I'm always wary of such comparisons since spending on movies vs. games is so wildly different, it's worth noting that "GTA IV" will be right on par with the biggest movie debut of all time, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which grossed $404 million worldwide its first day.

All the details are available right here on Variety.com

Also of note to Cut Scene readers is that I spoke to GameStop's senior VP or merchandising Bob McKenzie for the story. He's being a little more conservative with his estimates right now than the people I spoke to who know what Take-Two is selling to all retailers worldwide. Right now McKenzie thinks "GTA IV" will be a little smaller for his chain than "Halo 3" was.

On the other hand, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes told me that he expects "Grand Theft Auto IV" to "likely to do two times the volume that 'Halo 3' did" for his store. (More on Blockbuster's plans for "GTA IV" coming in another post soon.)

But I also asked McKenzie how the two different console versions of the game were looking for GaneStop and he shared this:

"Looking at the way pre-orders are trending, we're expecting it to be a little stronger on 360 than PS3," he told me, though he (unsurprisingly) wouldn't go into details on what the exact percentage would be.

So... we've had the poll on Joystiq, we have the GameFly rental data, we've had the debates about whether the highest install base of the 360 and the exclusive downloadable content would trump "GTA's" historical association with the Playstation console... and now we have our first solid data. It looks like Xbox 360 is going to beat PS3 for this game.

HOWEVER... it's worth noting that the 360 currently has a significant lead over the PS3. As of February, it was 9.6 million compared to 3.8 million in the U.S., according to NPD. So if the 360:PS3 ratio of "GTA IV" sales is closer than that, like say 60/40, that has to be considered something of a win for Sony, as it implies a higher tie ratio for their console and could potentially sell more PS3's than 360's. That would at least tighten the race between the two.

Comments

[Andrew]

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[guy]

You truley see this as a win for the Xbox? You are completely wrong, its a 1:3 ratio for PS3:XBOX360 in the US, and the reporters say that 60% of the sales were Xbox platform, and 40% to the PS3. That means PS3 is winning, stupids. By the by, I owned both and I can say that Microsoft made something incredible.. They managed to sell 9.6 million copys of their CRAP platform that gets stuck every 5 minutes, not to mention the random shutdowns to americans. So its either Americans that bought the xbox were dumb/cheap(to just spend roughly 50$ for a better platform), or that Microsoft had a great publicity. I'd say both

[Chazz]

XBOX360 RULES!!!! I KNEW THAT THE NEW GRAND THEFT AUTO ON 360 WOULD BE HIGHER THEN PS3!! :)

[Billy]

Keep in mind that Microsoft paid Rockstar $50 million extra to make extra downloadable content available only to the Xbox. Which is effin gay in my opinion

[scott]

It truly is amazing how many sales a video game can produce more than a major motion picture. Wow

[nevelator]

Not sure about the gamefly data. Why would someone rent a game for a system where DLC is an important part of it - would you not just buy the game?
Worldwide it will be a closer than polls suggest - and will lead to more ps3's being bought.

[Andronix]

In the UK & Europe GTA IV is selling more on the PlayStation 3.
All the major UK retailers including GAME, HMV, Amazon, and Zavvi are also reporting a massive surge in PS3 purchases. This means that people who have yet to get a next-gen console are buying a PS3 just to play GTA IV!

In the USA there is a bigger Xbox 360 install base and a strong loyalty to this American brand.

[@pete]

It's not a crappy EA port,you dick.

[pete]

@peter

i'd love to see how you came up with thinking the PS3 will run the game a lot smoother, after looking at almost every multi-platform release being poorer on the ps3.

[peter]

who cares.
fanboys are stupid.
people are only buying the 360 version because of DLC and they think xbl will give them a better MP experience, which is true, however the ps3 does have drastically better system specs and will run the game alot smoother, evening things out.

[goodconsole buyer]

lol ps3 gets pwnt again