Grand Theft Auto crashes through sales records – but look out for Iron Man

Controversial video game Grand Theft Auto IV has achieved record sales in the days following its release after earning $US500 million in its first week.

An astounding 3.6 million copies of GTA IV were sold on its first day, and six million by late last week, while earnings from sales are expected to head towards the $US1 billion mark in coming weeks.

The maker of GTA IV, Take-Two Interactive, claims the game’s first week sales are the biggest in entertainment history, surpassing all previous game, movie and music releases.

And there appears to be something to that claim. It has cruised by Halo 3, the previous game leader which took $US300 million in its first week, and previous top movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which took in $US406 million in its first week.

But a possible challenger to GTA IV could come in the form of the recently released Iron Man movie. Iron Man took in just less than $US200 million in its first weekend, not far off GTA IV’s first day take of $US310 million, and has continued to perform strongly since.