Grand Theft Auto V achieved worldwide retail sales of $800 million in its first day on sale.
That’s according to ‘company estimates’ from publisher Rockstar, which notes that this figure excludes Japan and Brazil, where the game is yet to launch.
This marks the highest first-day retail sales of any game in Rockstar’s history. By comparison, Activision claimed to have delivered the biggest game launch of 2012 with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, with estimate retail sales of $500 million on day one. And it took Modern Warfare 3 five days to pass the $775 million mark globally.
“All of us at Take-Two are thrilled with the initial response to Grand Theft Auto V. Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves, setting the entertainment industry’s new standard for creativity, innovation and excellence,” commented Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.
More than 8,300 retail stores in North America opened at midnight to welcome the launch of GTA V, noted Zelnick.
“We are incredibly proud of Rockstar Games’ creative achievement and could not be more pleased with the success of this launch,” he added.
The game has also broke sales records in UK, claiming its place as the biggest game launch in UK history with around 1.57 million sales, according to Chart Track figures.