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Microsoft: Xbox 360 captures 60 percent of GTAIV sales

Publisher cites retail data to say gamers preferred 360 edition of Rockstar's opus by 3-to-2, console sales up 56 percent week-over-week.

Following the launch of Take-Two and Rockstar Games' critically lauded Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29, the question on many industry watchers' minds was just how well the heavily anticipated game performed and whether it lived up to its heady expectations. Take-Two kept the stats-hungry mob on edge a full week after, saying just yesterday that the game nailed its reported 6 million sales prediction, generating $500 million in week-one revenue.

While Take-Two kept the industry waiting, Sony, which sponsored a portion of the advertising spots for the game, chimed in a full week prior to extol the game's as-yet-unconfirmed performance. In a congratulatory statement bereft of any hard details, the PlayStation maker said GTAIV "drove sales of the PlayStation 3 entertainment system within the first 24 hours," and not much else.

It now appears that the reason for Sony's ambiguity was that the majority of consumers opted to pick up GTAIV on Microsoft's console. Today on Microsoft's marketing-team-operated GamerScoreBlog, the publisher dished on the stats breakdown for the 6 million copies of the game sold in its first week at market.

"According to retailers, more than 60 percent of all GTA games sold in the first week were the Xbox 360 version," the publisher's marketing team wrote on its blog. Sony had not responded to queries for comment on this claim as of press time. According to the hardware maker's most recent numbers, the Xbox 360's global installed base stands at 19 million, with the PlayStation 3 trailing at 13 million.

Microsoft also said that GTAIV has caused sales of its console to spike 54 percent week-over-week and that retailers' data indicates the game is attaching to new console purchases at a rate of 40 percent. GTAIV has also proven to be a hit with online gamers, as the publisher noted earlier this week that the game had unseated Activision's Call of Duty 4 as the top Xbox Live title for the week.

439 Comments

  • prioritymail

    Posted May 14, 2008 2:17 pm GMT

    The answer is simple. More Xbox360 owners, more games sold for it.

  • wilmepe

    Posted May 14, 2008 5:57 am GMT

    Whoop de do!

  • senjutsu

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:15 pm GMT

    only 56%? I though the x360 sold like twice the amonth of ps3 or something like that. I suppose this means that the ps3 version sold pretty well, lol.

    @dvd682: You said the ps3 was distant in the jap sales, DAH! There is no JRPG on the ps3 right now, but wait and see the results the day after the launch of FF13... lol. (as long as it's exclusives, lol)

  • dvd682

    Posted May 13, 2008 9:52 am GMT

    chamber25, I do see your point. But I don't think the Japanese install base is very significant. I could be wrong but from what I understand the Japanese market is devoted to the Wii with the PS3 running a very distant 2nd. The biggest market for the PS3 right now is Europe (with the UK being the exception). But I'm not sure how big the GTA franchise is in Europe.

    The problem I think a lot of people are having (me included), is that we need one of the versions to be the big winner and the other to be the big loser when in reality it appears that both versions are doing extremely great.

    On one side you have the PS3 camp saying "look how great the PS3 version is doing despite the DL content and lower install base" and on the 360 side, because of analysts like Packter and others that said this would be the game that brought out all the old PS2 owners to buy a PS3 along with GTA4. GTA4 on PS3 was suppose to equal or better the 360 version, but since it didn't and sales remained equal to install base, 360 owners want to claim victory.

    And to v8nnwilder, the 360 version sold 20% more not 10%. Also as far as the DL content is concerned, no one pays that kind of money (50 million dollars) for exlusive content and it turn out to not really be exclusive. Maybe if we were talking 10 million, hell even 20 million, then maybe I could see it being a timed exclusive but not 50 million. The DL content is permanently exclusive or MS are the dumbest company in the world as far as money is concerned. But I'll let you decide witch option is more likely.

    But out of all this, I think there is one common thing that we can all agree upon, and that is that the Wii sucks big time.

  • chamber25

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:05 am GMT

    Well i don't know about the experts but i never expected GTA4 to sell more on the PS3 than on the 360, just the 6 million more x-box's gives it a significant advantage. I also think that with the bulk of the 360's installed base is in North America where the GTA series is a phenomenon that also gives it another advantage. I would say that a significant portion of the 13 million PS3 installed base is in japan where where the GTA4 is possibly not as popular or has it is in North America and Europe, plus i read the japanese version has not been localized yet and will be released some time this year. Not sure if any of that is true, but just another perspective. All i want to say is i think the real winner in this race will be the cosole that GTA4 pushes more hardware sales for. If Sony comes out selling less games in total but the GTA4 they do sell is attached to more hardware than X-box 360 version then i think Sony will be happy with that. Same goes for the 360 if it was the other way around. For Sony its all about eating away at the install base lead of the 360, while microsoft is all padding on to that lead.

  • darkride66

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:40 am GMT

    ShadoweaverCode asked "I'd like to know how you are coming up with 50 million PS3 games sold in the last year."
    Sorry, that number was as of the beginning of April. The reported attach rate at that time was 4.2 for the PS3 x 12 million consoles sold. Actually, checking into it now I see as of Jan of this year gamestop is saying the PS3's attach rate is now 5. IGN reported a 1, 1.5 attach rate for the PS3 at launch, but even if you just look at just the games that have sold over one million on the PS3, there's 50 million worth of sales right there.

  • Vermin14

    Posted May 13, 2008 2:41 am GMT

    i hope all the anti game people hear about this

  • v8nnwilder

    Posted May 13, 2008 12:44 am GMT

    We'll will 6 Million more Xbox's out there only selling 10% more than the PS3 version.... And they're getting "exclusive" content.... I don't see how that 10% is supposed to be something to brag about... All it tells me is that MS payed a lot of $$$$$$ for Exclusive Content that so far isn't cashing it in for them as they hoped. If it did Sony wouldn't have sold nearly as much as it did. Xbox gets "Exclusive" content.... and 10% more sales. We still get Getaway 3 in a couple of months so I can settle for that.

    But other than that big up to Rockstar for a job well done and it doesn't matter which console you get it on it's definitely one of the best games this year and maybe everyone can at least enjoy the game even if you hate the oppositions console.

  • Silasraven

    Posted May 13, 2008 12:23 am GMT

    Wow how people suffer for thier box of bits that play games. Does it matter what system you have? I think not. It's the disc with the game on that matters not what you put it in. Micro and Sony must smile to them selves at how easily they can manipulate thier matal box fans. I have a 360. Its a box I play games on. I dont worship it. It has had to go away on holiday when it got tired and got red eye . I played on on my pc and Wii while it was away. There are good games on the Wii and on pc so I did not miss my xbox cus thats what it is a box that plays games same as a PS3 except that also plays Blue ray. Games matter not the boxes guys. Come on stop being a metal box Zombie and be free gamers who think of games more than the metal game box thingy's.

    Happy gaming.

  • meta_foxx278

    Posted May 12, 2008 7:42 pm GMT

    I don't care what system outsells what system. I'm still getting GTAIV on my (future) PS3.

  • angelcar

    Posted May 12, 2008 6:34 pm GMT

    shoeman21:

    Nope, just that there are more XBoxes out there.
    It might also have to do with the fact that MS paid 50M for the rights to the episodic content.
    Which I'm sure will eventually come out for the PS3 as well. TTWO would be stupid if they didn't milk the Sony cow as well.

  • EatBoxSocks666

    Posted May 12, 2008 4:20 pm GMT

    oh come on stop micropsoft fanboys, its only ahead 10 - 12% its not that big a difference. Anyway whos cares as long the game is selling well

  • ShadoweaverCode

    Posted May 12, 2008 3:51 pm GMT

    x-2tha-z - Good choice. PS3 version of GTA4 also has slight aliasing and framerate issues and that's even WITH an install to the hard drive

  • ShadoweaverCode

    Posted May 12, 2008 3:47 pm GMT

    darkride66 - I'd like to know how you are coming up with 50 million PS3 games sold in the last year. As of about 3 months ago the attach rate for PS3 consoles to software was somewhere in the 1 to 1.5 games per console region (horrible for a console, due to blu-ray). There's absolutely no way every ps3 owner (only 13 mil right now) bought (on average) 4 games within a year.

  • x-2tha-z

    Posted May 12, 2008 3:47 pm GMT

    I learned after Assassins Creed to buy multi-platform games for 360. I've been reading the stories about GTA's performance on PS3 in the forums. WOW. Even after the update people are still having problems. I only buy exclusives for my PS3.

  • darkride66

    Posted May 12, 2008 2:50 pm GMT

    Franchise2k6 "not surprised. i only buy blu ray dvds for the my ps3."
    That puts you firmly in the minority. There are over 50 million PS3 games that have been sold in the last year vs about 10 million Blu-Ray disks worldwide, and not all those Blu-Ray's are sold to PS3 owners.

  • Franchise2k6

    Posted May 12, 2008 1:46 pm GMT

    not surprised. i only buy blu ray dvds for the my ps3

  • Candidulus_Lord

    Posted May 12, 2008 1:25 pm GMT

    This news is actually really good for Sony considering millions of more people have the 360

  • shoeman12

    Posted May 12, 2008 12:42 pm GMT

    once again proving that the xbox 360 version is the best version.

  • dvd682

    Posted May 12, 2008 10:41 am GMT

    These comments are directed at chamber25 and Hvac0120.

    chamber25, did you not read the article? It states quite clearly what the installed bases are for both consoles and the 360 does not have "almost twice the install base of ps3". It has almost exactly a 60% global install base over the PS3's 40%, which just so happens to be pretty much the exact same percentages that GTA 4 has sold according to the article.

    So what does this mean? Well it appears that the GTA series being considered an "predominantly PS3 associated series has had practically zero effect on the sales of the game. Which if you were to ask any of the experts before hand, they would have said it to be impossible. It was assumed, and quite logically I might add, that PS3 sales percentages would have been much higher. For some reason though, sales have bucked experts opinions by remaining equal to global installed base which practically know one imagined would happen.

    And as far as Hvac0120 comments. I don't think there is any argument on the travesty that is the RROD. There is no way to get around it, MS Fxxxed UP big time with that and MS should be praying to thank any god they can that it hasn't hurt them the way it should have. But you and many others are going to have to get over the delusion that the PS3 is more powerful than the 360. It's just not true. There is much more evidence that the 360 is just plain and simply more powerful than the PS3. But I'm not even gonna go into that. But I will state, for arguments sake that both systems are equal in terms of graphical power. The problem with this is that the PS3 was released a year after the 360. And there is no excuse for this what so ever. The PS3 should be hands down noticeably graphically superior to the 360 but almost the opposite is the case.

    There may come a time when PS3 games start to be noticeably better as far as graphics are concerned but I don't see this happening until Xbox 720 is released and 360 development has started to decline.

    So in conclusion: GTA4 on 360 has performed better than even the experts thought and no, the PS3 is not more powerful than the 360 despite what Sony marketing (4D, all games would be 2160P @ 240 FPS or whatever ridiculous #'s Kutaragi was throwing around, it's higher starting price, etc..) would have you believe.

  • Rei64

    Posted May 12, 2008 10:31 am GMT

    if you put your hand in a bag containing 13 black marbles and 19 white ones.. the probability of you pulling out a white one is slightly higher...translation.. there are more xbox360's in peoples homes than ps3s right now ..not to mention the fact that some people are just using ps3 as a blu-ray player. i have both systems and i got it for ps3 its gonna be around much longer. but i still love my 360

  • darkride66

    Posted May 12, 2008 10:16 am GMT

    @ R3DN1N3. Nice try. The attach rates for GTA4 on the 360 and PS3 are almost identical and the GTA4 is moving PS3 units like theirs no tomorrow. I'd read a little more news than just the "360 da betz" hype that Gamespot usually moves. By the way, Gamespot's ad of the day is "GTA4, where the 360 is always mentioned first!" ChaChing!

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted May 12, 2008 10:02 am GMT

    lol nice.
    Ps3 got owned.
    Bill Gates: "hey thanks for paying the advertizing costs, but we'll take it from here"

  • Hvac0120

    Posted May 12, 2008 9:32 am GMT

    The only reason I have an Xbox360 right now is because it came out first and I wanted a next-gen console in 2005. Microsoft made a good move coming out first by snatching up some of Sony's customer base. I haven't had the cash to get a PS3 since.

    I have also noticed that Gamespot has been a little biased lately on their shows and podcasts and news articles. The 360 versions are always highlighted because that is what most of their staff enjoys to play on. Is that the "preferred" console by everyone? No. It simply has had more time to have AAA exclusives come out. So, all their favorite games this generation have been mostly released on Xbox360. Therefore, they favor the system so far.

    I find this hard to believe after all the crap MS has put it's customers through this generation. I've been waiting over 3 months for my downloadable content to be transferred to my latest console (on my 4th repaired console) and 1-800-4MY-XBOX keeps telling me I have to wait for Microsoft to contact me with no way for me to talk to them myself.

    Add to that the technical limitations of the Xbox360 will make it out-dated faster than the PS3.

    Does this mean I am a Sony/Playstation fanboy? No. This means that through 20 years of gaming on consoles, I have come to expect certain quality of service from these consoles. When it comes down to it, Microsoft's console has only delivered on the games side of things and all of these great games come from 3rd party developers. So, any of their hard-hitting games (minus Halo 3) could have easily been PS3 exclusives and completely turned these arguments around.

    When it comes to reliability of the hardware, customer service, and cost for features, the PS3 is beating the Xbox360 hands-down no problem.

    I see a lot of people here arguing that the Xbox360 is cheaper. I beg to differ. That 512 MB card you get with the Arcade SKU is not going to last long at all. Then you have to spend an extra $100-180 to upgrade to a 20GB or 120GB HDD. Not just for saving games, but because you will want to get in on all the downloadable demos, videos, gamerpics, themes, et cetera and won't have any space on the Memory Unit. Add in just the additional cost of the HDD and you get close to the cost of a PS3. Then add in things like, rechargable batteries for the controllers, wi-fi, and heck - an HD-DVD add-on (for sake of feature comparison). Now you've spent nearly double the price for an Xbox360 than you would for more features included in a standard PS3 SKU.

    Microsoft's customer base has been growing but a much smaller attachment rate than when it launched. So much so that sales have been steadily slipping while PS3 sales continue to grow. MS made a very smart move by launching first and I think it is the one thing that has kept them slightly ahead so far. As far as performance, both consoles are going to provide a similar experience for games - all depending on the developer (EA apparently develops for 360 first). So either console will be great for a game such as GTA IV with DLC making a difference in multi-console owners decisions.

    As far as price goes, you will spend a little more money from the start with PS3, but that investment will go a long way. With Xbox360, you will need to spend less at the start, but then MS will milk you for everything you have and end up costing you more in the long run.

    This is all coming from an Xbox360 owners perspective. I don't own a PS3 and I do own a Wii. I enjoy my box, but I have spent almost as much time not playing my 360 because of technical issues as I have spent playing the awesome games. If I had not had so many technical issues, I would only have to complain about the amount of money MS squeezes out of me. The console is good, but there are some obvious mistakes and ideas that I am not happy with. I can't guarantee that PS3 will be much better, but it sure sounds like a nice get-away when my 360 starts acting up.

  • pinballman

    Posted May 12, 2008 9:31 am GMT

    This is good news for the 360, I think the GTAIV did better for the 360 becuse of.....

    1. Xbox 360's global installed base.

    2. Xbox 360's On-Line play is better than on the PS3.

    3. Exclusive content for Xbox Live.

    I could be wrong on all fo this. No I don't think so.... (LOL)

  • EPaul

    Posted May 12, 2008 8:58 am GMT

    That's not much considering the huge install base 360 has

  • darkride66

    Posted May 12, 2008 8:17 am GMT

    delta3074 said "will you stop going on about the 360 breaking already"
    Sure thing! Right after they stop breaking. Seriously, I would love just as much as the next guy to never hear about RROD again, but because MS essential said "Screw 30% of the people who buy our product! We have to get to market first." And then later "Ah! The gamers we shafted are getting angry. Extend that warranty for them and then ship them refurbed broken 360 for a couple of years. We've got millions of them and they're just taking up space."
    The 360 is a great system for the 70% of gamers that have had no problems. For the people like me that now live in fear of playing a game longer than an hour it kinda sucks.
    Oh, and the PS3 has games. Lots of them. Please let this die. It hasn't been true for over half a year now. I could just as easily say the 360 has no games because the PS2 has so many more titles available. We know this isn't the case.

  • mrkame16

    Posted May 12, 2008 7:49 am GMT

    myjota says
    but why then gamespot rate ps3 gta4 first , not xbox360...if the Ps3 version got an exagerrated 10.. rest assure the 360 version is an overated 10.

  • delta3074

    Posted May 12, 2008 7:32 am GMT

    i tried for ages to be nice to the ps3 fanboys i even stuck up for them a couple of times, will you stop going on about the 360 breaking already, it's old, yes the 360 eventually breaks, no falcons did not fix the RROD but i would rather have a console i can play games on till it breaks then have a console that doesn't break but i can't play games on it cos there are none.

  • myjota

    Posted May 12, 2008 5:47 am GMT

    but why then gamespot rate ps3 gta4 first , not xbox360??

  • chamber25

    Posted May 12, 2008 5:39 am GMT

    Seeing that X box 360 has almost twice the install base of ps3, 60 percent is not that high. It could even mean that PS3 might have a higher attachment percentage on the PS3 than on the Xbox 360. I'd like to see thought which console did GTA4 drive more hardware sales for. Either way GTA4 and the coming release of MGS4 could really put a dent in the 360's lead.

  • andypolack

    Posted May 12, 2008 4:53 am GMT

    Yeah, and i only ever bought the one PS2 because there were never any problems with it. I think i had 4 PS2's overall. I prefer the 360 because thats what my friends have got. Once the PS3 has some titles that I want i'll be getting that too. Viva le competition.

  • SEEDman_X

    Posted May 12, 2008 12:42 am GMT

    I really hope that this record profit can help Take2 resist the EA's bid for the company! Please Take2, I have faith in you

  • steveguttenberg

    Posted May 11, 2008 10:03 pm GMT

    I have all three systems. I got it for 360 because all my friends have only 360s, and for the downloadable stuff.

  • darkride66

    Posted May 11, 2008 8:38 pm GMT

    orrytur said "You want a graphics comparison? Here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33469.html like you can see, Xbox 360 dominates the ps3 (again)"
    Oh, I wouldn't use gametrailers. They recently got busted for trying to make the Xbox 360 version of Grid look better, and have since been busy deleting any thread, any mention of the fact they're busted on their site. You can probably find the video on one of the video sites. Basically they were using the PS3 version of Grid and trying to pass it off as the 360 version. Both version were actually the PS3 version (you could tell by the button selections down in the corner. Last time I checked the 360 doesn't have an x or triangle button.) The version they tried to pass off as the PS3 version they had dumbed down the colors and contrast. Makes you wonder how many times before they've got away with this on their "comparisions". At any rate, most game sites claim the PS3 version has the graphical edge. Even Sam Houser from Rockstar said he preferred the PS3 version.

  • tenorio_rotc

    Posted May 11, 2008 8:25 pm GMT

    The graphics comparison shows a brighter game on the 360 and the lower native resolution of the PS3 version really shows up. But yeah, more people have 360s so more will get that version. But also, downloadable content and Xbox live for the multiplayer are also contributors.

  • yatatabien

    Posted May 11, 2008 8:19 pm GMT

    Bah, who cares about consoles??

    What matters is the game.

    WIthout good games there isn't any good consoles.

    See for example the PS2, the hardware was terrible but great games makes that little piece of hardware the best of its generation

  • CBass217

    Posted May 11, 2008 7:39 pm GMT

    orry...the graphics look better on the PS3 shown on that site. The colors are all blended a little better..the 360 version looks brighter but the shadowing effects and detail of the pavement/streets look better on the PS3. Doesn't matter ...the 360 is a broken console.

  • WJCJ

    Posted May 11, 2008 7:31 pm GMT

    This is only because more people have a 360, and the system costs less. If everybody had an 360 and a PS3, like me , it would be guarranteed more sells on PS3 than 360. I do wish this game was an exclusive on PS3 because i believe with the Blu-Ray disc there would have been a TON of more content on this GREAT!!!! game.

  • orrytur posted May 11, 2008 5:40 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    orrytur

    Posted May 11, 2008 5:40 pm GMT (hide)

    You want a graphics comparison? Here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33469.html like you can see, Xbox 360 dominates the ps3 (again)

  • scmbg

    Posted May 11, 2008 4:46 pm GMT

    i want to see a 360 PS3 graphics comparison

  • Mr_duong

    Posted May 11, 2008 4:36 pm GMT

    jasonbarbour

    well, considering that microsoft has greater than a 3:2 lead in console sales over PS3 i would say this is good news to sony, if PS3 sales continue to increase as they have been all year, then we could see GTA4 sell better overall on the PS3, Gamespot is an x-box supporter, if you look at the analysts predictions efore release they all said it would sell beter on the 360 at release, but they predicted that over time the PS3 would take over in sales as the console sold more considering the past sales and predicted future sales their predictions have been correct so far, we will see come fall or next spring which system this sells better on, to call it after less than a month is crazy.


    im going to agree with you on this one. 360 only has the lead in the sales for gta 4 simply because more people have it. for gta 4 to raise the console sales for ps3 is a great thing, the fact that not many people have had a ps3 yet. also this may be due to advertising, as gta 4 is advertised on tv and websites as a ps3 game.

  • lamepunk

    Posted May 11, 2008 2:37 pm GMT

    PS3 is better than 360! Except Xbox 360 has Halo...which is their best game.

  • CBass217

    Posted May 11, 2008 2:19 pm GMT

    "Microsoft also said that GTAIV has caused sales of its console to spike 54 percent week-over-week and that retailers' data indicates the game is attaching to new console purchases at a rate of 40 percent"...

    Yeah...and Microsoft also said they made a console that actually works without frying...face it, the Xbox is nothing but a glorified doorstop

  • jasonbarbour

    Posted May 11, 2008 1:50 pm GMT

    well, considering that microsoft has greater than a 3:2 lead in console sales over PS3 i would say this is good news to sony, if PS3 sales continue to increase as they have been all year, then we could see GTA4 sell better overall on the PS3, Gamespot is an x-box supporter, if you look at the analysts predictions efore release they all said it would sell beter on the 360 at release, but they predicted that over time the PS3 would take over in sales as the console sold more considering the past sales and predicted future sales their predictions have been correct so far, we will see come fall or next spring which system this sells better on, to call it after less than a month is crazy.

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted May 11, 2008 12:03 pm GMT

    A victory for microsoft, face it
    back in the last gen san andreas and the other games were ps2 time exclusives, now they launch at the same time and the 360 version has exclusive DLC.

  • angelcar

    Posted May 11, 2008 11:38 am GMT

    A blue -Ray player, free online play, and no RROD.
    PS3 mo betta.

    I just hope R* sees the light and realizes that if they send the episodic content to the PS3 as well they'll make some nice moola.

  • CBass217

    Posted May 11, 2008 11:16 am GMT

    Wow PS3 is catching up. Considering the headstart MS had, 13 million to 19 million is not that big of a deal globally. Also, Is that "working" consoles globally installed??? Because my second Xbox is sitting in my garage trash bin with RROD...the household numbers are probably really close if you consider reliability. I'm sure there are also other like me who grew sick of the XBox problems and decided to finally buy the PS3 as a solution. The end result being 2 consoles sold for Xbox, and only 1 for sony ....and a disgruntled gamer who will not buy MSoft's next console..EVER!!!

  • cesarjr14

    Posted May 11, 2008 10:48 am GMT

    Hey guys, I strongly disagree with the System Wars, but you have to see ti as NEWS. This is a gaming site. And, even though it does fuel the War, its not their fault people are dumb fanboys.

    Its like everyone gets mad at Bush for getting Hussein out of his role of authority. "Its bad; it causes violence." Yeah, well its not Bush's fault Hussein was an idiot.

    Its comparable. Think about it. Happy Gaming.

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