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Microsoft and Sony have already started chest thumping over which company has benefited most from the phenomenon that is GTA 4.
Yesterday, in a press release issued to Kotaku, Sony said: “Demand for Grand Theft Auto IV drove sales of the PlayStation 3 entertainment system within the first 24 hours, continuing the strong legacy of the franchise on PlayStation platforms.”
Sony brought in heavyweight help to back up its case, including GameStop senior vice president of merchandising Bob McKenzie, who said: “From our position, the launch of GTA IV has been tremendous in driving traffic to our stores, as well as providing a vigorous lift in PS3 console sales over this time last week. We attribute the growth to a huge fan base of PS2 owners who see this title as the trigger for the PS3 upgrade they’ve been planning.”
Analyst Michael Pachter also got in on the act, citing “brand loyalty” as the reason why “Sony’s in a great position right now.”
He added: “There is a huge installed base of loyal PlayStation 2 owners who have been looking for a reason to upgrade, and they have strong previous ties to the Grand Theft Auto franchise on PlayStation platforms. Add to that a number of other big exclusive games for PS3, including Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, and SOCOM: Confrontation, to name a few, and it seems like Sony’s in a great position right now.”
However, Microsoft hit back. Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox LIVE told Next-gen.biz: “What we’ve heard anecdotally from our retail partners is that the Xbox 360 version of the game is outselling the PS3 version by a margin of two-to-one. That mirrors what we saw with pre-orders, but it continues to hold true at retail, at least for the first couple of days. It’s a great sign.”
While we still do not know official sales figures for GTA 4 in the US, official UK ChartTrack day one figures have already been released, showing 55% of all GTA 4 units were sold on the Xbox 360. We’ll have to wait and see whether that figure remains the same following the Bank Holiday weekend.
Who do you think has benefited most from GTA 4? Let us know in the comments section below.
About the Author
Grand Theft Auto IV
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure
