Grand Theft Auto V

We’ve heard a rumour that the team at Rockstar North has refilled the paper towel dispensers in all of its Edinburgh-based office’s toilets with £50 notes, and now we know why: Grand Theft Auto V has raked in a whopping $1 billion (£625 million) in retail sales after just three days on the market. That’s absolutely, absolutely phenomenal.

“We believe this marks the fastest that any entertainment property, including video games and feature films, has reached this significant milestone,” said a flush Strauss Zelnick, the head honcho of parent company Take-Two. “Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon, and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment.”

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To put things into perspective, the fastest selling game ever was Call of Duty: Black Ops, which took 15 days to make $1 billion. Meanwhile, the Avengers movie set the box office record when it released last April, taking 19 days to accrue the same sum. Just to hammer things home: Grand Theft Auto V did it in three days. We suddenly feel all dizzy.

Earlier in the week, Take-Two revealed that the critically acclaimed open world adventure had coined over $800 million within 24 hours of its release. Sales aggregator Chart-Track added that the title shifted 1.57 million copies on launch day in the UK alone. The most impressive thing is that Rockstar releases always have legs. This is going to keep selling for a long time.

[source ir.take2games.com, via vg247.com]