360 wins day-one GTA IV battle

The Xbox 360 version of GTA IV has edged out on top of the day-one format sales battle with 55% of the takings.

According to ChartTrack figures, compiling of high street and online sales, the 360 version just nipped the lead over PS3, with Rockstar shifting 335,000 copies on 360 and 274,000 on PS3.

'Top-sellers' lists on retails sites Amazon and Play show the 360 version sitting comfortably in the top spot.

This comes despite analyst predictions that the PS3 version would 'win' the format battle for the inevitable blockbuster title. The battle's just begun though.

It was an all-round record-breaking day for GTA IV too. Not only did it break the day-one sales for any game on both formats (beating Halo 3 which managed 266,000 in 24 hours, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which did 80,000), but it's also become the fastest-selling game on day one in the UK ever.

A colossal 609,000 copies were snapped up in the first day in total, destroying the previous record of 501,000, held by none other than its predecessor, GTA: San Andreas.

"The Bank Holiday weekend should be a particularly fruitful period," ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch toldMCV.

"But it will be interesting to see how long the stock lasts as people rush to stores," he added. And then there's that 360-exclusive DLC later this year. It's going to be interesting...

Courtesy of CVG.

May 1, 2008