GTA 5 Release Date: Grand Theft Auto Game Expected to Make $1 Billion in a Month
Grand Theft Auto V is expected to rake in approximately $1 billion in sales in a month's time, blowing their amazingly high budget of over $250 million out of the water.
"There's a lot of anticipation for this game," Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian said in an interview with Bloomberg. "If the sell-through is disappointing at all, because it doesn't break records or fit some other point of measurement, then it reflects on the broader industry's fortunes."
Rockstar games has been working on the new GTA game for around five years, with the previous installment making $900 million according to Bloomberg.
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The game's popularity surpasses the new age of video games where they are available for free or for just a dollar as an app on a smartphone.
According to the NPD Group, video game spending fell to $2.14 billion for the first half o the year, which was good for 34 percent of consumer spending while mobile and online gaming spending was 53 percent.
"A lot of kids don't want $40 games any more, they want 40 $1 games," said Nancy MacIntyre, a former executive at Lucas Arts and now in charge of a social gaming network to Bloomberg.
Rockstar has said they were looking to make the best game ever in the new GTA game, and it appears from a sales standpoint that people agree.
Grand Theft Auto 5 also comes with an accompanying app that can be accessed anywhere, even when not playing the game.
The app, iFruit, will allow gamers to customize their vehicles on the go, and then place the car in the players garage in GTA 5. The second part of the app is a "gangster version" of a Tamagotchi, where players help raise a ferocious pooch to be had as a pet in the game.
"Everybody's had some work done in Los Santos, so don't let your ride be the exception to the rule," the app's description reads. "How would we survive without apps? Apps can transform your mobile device into essential tools like a harmonica, disco ball or convincing moustache. Somewhere out there is the perfect storm of touchscreen technology to fix everything that's wrong with your life. And maybe all you're missing is the iFruit app. Maybe not. At least you'll have something to keep you entertained while your significant other prattles on endlessly about their day."
