BKK2 on 02 May 2008
Chips MD: GTA IV Driving Greater PS3 Sales
Don McCabe, managing director of UK games retailer Chips, says a “phenomenal” Grand Theft Auto IV launch period has seen the Xbox 360 version leading unit sales, but the game driving greater PS3 adoption across the company’s 31 stores
”Demand from day one has been phenomenal,” McCabe told Next-Gen Friday, echoing statements made by retailers Play.com and Game earlier this week. “It’s the biggest selling title on any format that we’ve ever had. We virtually sold out on day one.”
McCabe said that the Xbox 360 version had begun as the strongest seller, but that the PS3 version was closing the gap and driving more hardware sales.
“Initially the 360 version was the biggest seller for us but in the last couple of days the PS3 version has been picking up. I think as people have got to see it on friends’ consoles and start talking about it the vibe has been growing, and I think anyone that’s got a PS3 is now making the decision to come and buy a copy. Over the last day or so the PS3 version has picked up quite substantially [although] it’s still slightly behind the 360 version.
“The game’s certainly a hardware driver,” he added. “Some people appear to have been waiting for a killer app on PS3 and see GTA IV as that app, so we’re certainly noticing that the game’s more of a hardware shifter for PS3.”
Chips has so far taken one GTA IV restock that was supposed to satisfy consumer demand over the busy weekend shopping period. Unfortunately, however, some customers will be unable to obtain a copy, a situation that’s bound to be reflected at many stores nationwide over the bank holiday.
“We’ve had one restock to date form Take-Two and [distributor] Gem but copies have been flying out of the door. The batch that we just got was for the weekend but it’s not going to last that long. There are odd units dotted around the system but we’re now taking pre-orders for the next delivery. We’re hoping to get another restock early next week.”
So has he felt let down by Chips’ allocation?
“It’s always nice to have a title that sells out, but on the other hand you never like to have a disappointed customer standing in front of you. We feel that we’ve had a good allocation from our supplier. The logistics of dealing with such a massive seller are very, very problematic and I think they’ve done an exceptional job in getting the stock to the market and trying to treat all retailers fairly.”
On Wednesday ChartTrack revealed that GTA IV had broken UK opening day sales records after shifting 609,000 copies in its first 24 hours of availability. According to the sales monitor’s estimates, the Xbox 360 version sold 335,000 copies on Tuesday, compared to 274,000 PS3 copies.
Don McCabe, managing director of UK games retailer Chips, says a “phenomenal” Grand Theft Auto IV launch period has seen the Xbox 360 version leading unit sales, but the game driving greater PS3 adoption across the company’s 31 stores
”Demand from day one has been phenomenal,” McCabe told Next-Gen Friday, echoing statements made by retailers Play.com and Game earlier this week. “It’s the biggest selling title on any format that we’ve ever had. We virtually sold out on day one.”
McCabe said that the Xbox 360 version had begun as the strongest seller, but that the PS3 version was closing the gap and driving more hardware sales.
“Initially the 360 version was the biggest seller for us but in the last couple of days the PS3 version has been picking up. I think as people have got to see it on friends’ consoles and start talking about it the vibe has been growing, and I think anyone that’s got a PS3 is now making the decision to come and buy a copy. Over the last day or so the PS3 version has picked up quite substantially [although] it’s still slightly behind the 360 version.
“The game’s certainly a hardware driver,” he added. “Some people appear to have been waiting for a killer app on PS3 and see GTA IV as that app, so we’re certainly noticing that the game’s more of a hardware shifter for PS3.”
Chips has so far taken one GTA IV restock that was supposed to satisfy consumer demand over the busy weekend shopping period. Unfortunately, however, some customers will be unable to obtain a copy, a situation that’s bound to be reflected at many stores nationwide over the bank holiday.
“We’ve had one restock to date form Take-Two and [distributor] Gem but copies have been flying out of the door. The batch that we just got was for the weekend but it’s not going to last that long. There are odd units dotted around the system but we’re now taking pre-orders for the next delivery. We’re hoping to get another restock early next week.”
So has he felt let down by Chips’ allocation?
“It’s always nice to have a title that sells out, but on the other hand you never like to have a disappointed customer standing in front of you. We feel that we’ve had a good allocation from our supplier. The logistics of dealing with such a massive seller are very, very problematic and I think they’ve done an exceptional job in getting the stock to the market and trying to treat all retailers fairly.”
On Wednesday ChartTrack revealed that GTA IV had broken UK opening day sales records after shifting 609,000 copies in its first 24 hours of availability. According to the sales monitor’s estimates, the Xbox 360 version sold 335,000 copies on Tuesday, compared to 274,000 PS3 copies.
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