Grand Theft Auto IV

Thursday 1st May/... ELSPA, the Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers’ Association, today reports that day one sales of Rockstar Games’ hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 have comfortably eclipsed the previous record set by GTA: San Andreas in 2004. Tuesday 29th April sell through for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 reached 609,000 units - comfortably beating the previous record: GTA: San Andreas for PS2, which sold 501,000 units on Friday 29th October, 2004.

“The scale of GTA’s day one sales are phenomenal and reflect a vibrant market which continues to grow. Gamers are from all age groups and demographics with estimates putting the total number of people in the UK who enjoy games at over 20 million,” said ELSPA managing director, Mike Rawlinson.

All-time No1

Initial Day 1 'GTA: San Andreas' PS2 was Friday 29th October, 2004 at 501K units.

GTA IV combined PS3/360 (All formats record)

Initial Day 1 sales are estimated at 609K units for Tuesday 29th April which is a new record.

Xbox 360

Microsoft's 'Halo 3' launched on Wed 26th Sep07 and the day 1 sales were 266K units.

The new 24 hour record is 'GTA IV' which on initial estimates recorded 335K units on Day 1, Tuesday 29th April.

PS3

The previous record has been well and truly eclipsed. This was set recently by Sony's 'Gran Turismo 5: Prologue' launched on Friday 28th March with Day 1 sales of 80K.

The new 24 hour record is 'GTA IV' which on initial estimates recorded 274K units on Day 1, Tuesday 29th April.

Ends

About ELSPA - http://www.elspa.com

ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) was founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the computer and video games industry. Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK.

About Chart Track

Chart-Track was formed in 1996 to monitor sales of music, videos and software through retail in the UK and Ireland. Since then they have established an unparalleled reputation for fast and accurate retail research in the home entertainment market. Operations now encompass the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Europe and key report services include:

UK Leisure Software

Republic of Ireland Leisure Software

Danish Leisure Software

European Leisure Software (in conjunction with GfK)

UK Hardware and Peripherals

Republic of Ireland Music and Video

Chart-Track is an independent limited company based in West London.