Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes Grand Theft Auto IV could become the best-selling game of 2008, with $450 million in revenue and over 9 million units sold by the end of Take-Two's fiscal year (Oct. 31). He believes that GTA IV will ship 6 million units in its first week and sell 75% of that in a brief amount of time -- that means the game should not be difficult to find at any big box retailer. GTA IV is expected to mask the "underperformance" of other Take-Two games and make up "100% of Take-Two's earnings for the year."

It's not all sunshine and lollipops, though, as Pachter questions the profitability of GTA IV's Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable content. The conclusion of some fancy math is that 50% of Xbox 360 GTA IV owners will have to purchase the DLC for Take-Two to generate cash from the deal, which Pachter believes is "not highly likely." Taking GTA IV out of the equation, Pachter continues to make his case for the EA buyout of Take-Two by saying the company continues to lose market share and revenues. GTA IV unleashes panic on Liberty City beginning April 29.

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Discuss...

Thats shipped? I expect over 12 million. GTA 4 will sell amazingly well, it will shatter records.

Will 9 million by Haloween on the PS3 and 360 combined do better than SSB: Brawl or the new Mario Kart? That'd be an interesting question.

I think that people are expecting too much from this game. I see the game selling 9 million Lifetime, not by march. I think the split will be 5-6 mil for the 360, and 3-4 mil for the PS3. I just don't think this game commands the attention it once got. I think it was money wasted by MS for the exclusive episodic content also.

We all know the answer.

well....since it's combined sales......it's highly likely this might happen - In fact, I think it may even surpass that...

i believe it. this gta will prolly be the best selling gta game of all time.

this big mac im eating now is so tasy. mmmm

Pos	Game	Console	Publisher	Hits	Score	Sales
1		Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas		Rockstar	7,063	7.81	15.35m
2		Grand Theft Auto: Vice City		Rockstar	3,602	7.81	14.20m
3		Grand Theft Auto 3		Rockstar	4,109	7.80	11.60m
4		Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories		Rockstar	3,066	7.13	4.69m
5		Grand Theft Auto 2		Rockstar	748	8.06	3.42m
6		Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories		Rockstar	1,685	7.77	3.17m
7		Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories		Rockstar	2,456	7.78	2.34m

According to those numbers it is possible

9 million lifetime, across both platforms? Absolutely.

9 million by the end of October, with no holiday boost to sales? I dunno... I can easily 9 million by the end of 2008, not so sure by the end of October.

I dont believe this for a second. This game is not hyped nearly enough for that many sales. Sorry, but no.