Take-Two is reporting $800 million in retail sales on the launch day of Grand Theft Auto V, blasting analysts expectations out of the water.
Analysts point out the figure suggests between 13 and 14 million copies of the game have been sold on its launch day. By comparison, Grand Theft Auto IV sold 13 million copies in its first year.
When Grand Theft Auto IV first launched, there were far less Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles in homes. Five years later, analysts were expecting Grand Theft Auto V to easily outsell its predecessor within the first month - perhaps hitting a billion dollars in retail sales - but $800 million in a day comes as a big surprise.
"We're looking for 23 million units of games sold by March 2014 and we won't change that, but $800 million in the first day is phenomenal," said Mike Hickey, an analyst at the Benchmark Company.
Reviews of the game are by far mostly positive at this time, with gamers praising the beautiful Los Santos city, the three-main-character storyline and open-ended gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto Online will be released as a free update next month.