GTA IV statsplosion! Xbox Live and US 360 sales detailed

by Christopher Grant { May 7th 2008 at 7:58PM }

Rockstar continues its statistical assault, putting down its scientific calculator and giant sacks of money just long enough to share some Grand Theft Auto IV data with us, by way of Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog. First, Microsoft wanted to share some GTA-related Xbox sales data (Europe can't have all the fun, right?): Xbox 360 console sales "went up 54% week-over-week"; retailers say that the Xbox 360 release accounted for more than 60% of all GTA IV sales in the first week; sticking those two together, retailers say that "roughly 40% of new 360 console sales" went out the door with a copy of GTA IV.

Now for the really interesting stuff: Xbox Live stats. We already knew GTA IV took the top spot on Xbox Live (and apparently helped the service break the "1 million concurrent users" milestone), but know we know how: more than 2.3 million people played on Xbox Live, unlocking more than 12 million achievements, and setting "a new record for time played," with your average gamer investing more than four hours in the game's first week.

Without decent info to compare and contrast these numbers with, they're little more than trivia. Regardless, here's our best apples and oranges comparison: in the first nine days after the release of the Call of Duty 4 map pack, that game logged some 30 million hours of play so, if GTA IV had 2.3 million users spending an average of four hours with it in the first week, we're clumsily calculating something like 9.2 million hours versus something like 23.3 prorated hours for CoD4 ... or something. We warned you it was apples and oranges. Now you tell us: how much time did you spend with GTA IV?

Tags: Grand-Theft-Auto-IV, GTAIV, Rockstar, stats

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Dave @ May 7th 2008 8:04PM

SNAP! Let's see the PS3 results, as a percentage of total sales...

Co @ May 8th 2008 12:12AM

lol what is up with Xbox achievements? It's like the essence of "cool" for 14 year old boys or something.

Platinum_Skeet @ May 8th 2008 8:11AM

Co don't knock it until you try it. They seem so stupid but they do add value to the games...

Knight Marquise @ May 8th 2008 10:58AM

@ Co..

And bashing xbox achievements is the essense of "cool" for 14 year old Sony fanbots. That is until they get their "Trophys" with home.

Kujel @ May 7th 2008 8:03PM

Kudos to MS and Rockstar for a job well done.

Tiptup300 @ May 7th 2008 9:14PM

Enjoy your goo gobs of money, you earned it!

GRANTED @ May 8th 2008 8:43AM

ooh nice obamameme

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 8:06PM

still playing it. I think the first week I racked up 15 hours.

The Artist formally known as Jesus @ May 7th 2008 9:49PM

Only 15 hours?

MASTUR CHEEF (Yes I pay for Xbox live you cheap ass scrub) @ May 7th 2008 8:15PM

50 hours 70% done but I'm still looking for some rats with wings. right now I only have 178

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 8:18PM

holy cows!!! do you ever sleep?

MASTUR CHEEF (Yes I pay for Xbox live you cheap ass scrub) @ May 7th 2008 8:29PM

@BrokenAbacus

Nope I'll sleep when I die

booticon @ May 7th 2008 8:30PM

50 hours a week? Good lord, get a job.

BrokenAbacus @ May 8th 2008 4:05AM

I wish I was able to spend that much time on games. I started out with a good about of time about 4 hours a night. then work and school got in the way....then my fiance' got in the way...then my dumb friends got in the way. But I should be back to putting in some good hours for the rest of the week. I would have about 8 more hours tacked on to that if my xbox would stop giving me the "disk unreadable" error crap!

Sean Gallagher @ May 7th 2008 8:37PM

I think JoyStiq means to say 4 hours a day...
4 hours within its first week doesn't sound right at all. I myself played 45 hours before I put it back on the shelf. That was within 3 days of launch too.

colin @ May 7th 2008 11:26PM

i think you may be overestimating peoples' devotion to videogames or underestimating yours.

mrfong @ May 7th 2008 8:28PM

Zero. Waiting for a fix for the 360. I'm too lazy to try and get a new disc, but anyways one of my buddies tried getting a new one and his xbox still refused to read it.

Cyro @ May 7th 2008 8:56PM

Well my friend, I have bad news for you. There will be no patch for the problem you have. If your xbox 360 cant read the game disc then you most likely have a bad DVD Drive and will need to send it in for repairs to have it change.

mrfong @ May 7th 2008 9:01PM

booticon @ May 7th 2008 8:31PM

This is a total guesstimate, but if you include Live multiplayer, probably close to 20 hours.

Dubbz45 @ May 7th 2008 8:36PM

Since last tues, 5 hours a day, 8 hours on Sat and Sun. plus another 5 tonight... 51 hours so far Bob.

Saria the Cat @ May 7th 2008 8:37PM

Due to demands of class and a constant struggle for 360 take-over with my boyfriend, I'm only about 10-15% of the way through, and probably 10 hours or less. The days I used to get to spend 10+ hours non-stop playing a video game ceased when I began high school.

ScottyGEE32 @ May 7th 2008 8:43PM

It only gets less and less from there......Depending on what you wanna do for a living that is.

Saria the Cat @ May 7th 2008 8:48PM

I know :( In between exams, I get maybe a few hours a week. And all of those playing times are 1 hour or less. At least it makes you appreciate the game more.

Co @ May 8th 2008 12:15AM

You should pick up Mario Kart Wii. You and your boy can play together and have a lot more fun in the process. Nothing is worse than sitting there watching someone else playing a game for hours on end.

e_grz(Zune 80 originals owner) @ May 7th 2008 8:39PM

I got about 7 hours of play in.
19.24% done.
ABout 2 hours to get 7 percent.
I noticed there was an achievement to finsih the game in less than 30 hours so i stopped bullshitting it and actually played.

noskillbassist @ May 7th 2008 8:45PM

Before my PS3's BD drive died on me, I played roughly 60 hours. (My BD drive died Saturday @ 2pm PST, I got the game Tuesday @ 4pm PST)

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 8:47PM

you sir are a BEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saria the Cat @ May 7th 2008 8:49PM

I don't understand bragging about how many hours you've clocked in a tiny time frame. People tend to do this with every game. Doesn't that just mean you aren't savoring it enough?

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 8:54PM

Not so. When I first got Bioshock I didn't get up until I was finished. And I can tell you I savoured every minute of that game. Same with Mass Effect(I was a zombie for a weekend) and Halo3.

Cyro @ May 7th 2008 9:00PM

@ Saria: You might be right, but I can't seem to get my self away of the TV when I am playing a good game :). That and the fact that you connect more with the story when you go straight.

Saria the Cat @ May 7th 2008 9:09PM

I guess so. To each his own! I guess when you're on a college budget, you just try to make your $60 purchases stretch a little more. :P

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 9:15PM

Well I work 40+ hours a week and go to school part-time so whatever time I get to play I make sure I make the most of it. Not to mention trying to have a social life and keep my fiance' happy. Which is a full time job as it is.

noskillbassist @ May 7th 2008 9:36PM

Savoring =/= taking your time, ftr.

BrokenAbacus @ May 7th 2008 9:46PM

How is playing the game to completion not savoring it?

Co @ May 8th 2008 12:17AM

I agree with you on this Saria. Even if I wanted to I couldn't plop down for hours on end on a single game. I actually play in 30-45 minute sessions before my back and neck call it quits by locking up on me.

benjor0x0r @ May 7th 2008 8:58PM

Never got to play the multiplayer yet. I tried to do 5-6 games and all of them had a connection failure so I gave up on it and went back to the single player. Logged 27 hours in the first week or so according to the in game stats.

Cyro @ May 7th 2008 8:58PM

I don't like the percentage spin that MS and Sony give out. I prefer and wait for the NPD numbers.

MinimumWageNinja @ May 7th 2008 9:03PM

I spent about 35 hours Tuesday to Tuesday. Absolutely hooked.

Korova @ May 7th 2008 9:38PM

put in about 10 hours this weekend. 18% done. Will play more this Sat. Sunday is mothers day, so probably no gaming.

I actually want to finish this game, but when I hear that some missions involve getting away from 4 stars I begin to doubt thats a reasonably desire. I also like "time spent with six stars" statistic.

Aaron @ May 7th 2008 9:43PM

lol MS is funny. I dont think those numbers are true at all.

DemonGSides @ May 7th 2008 9:48PM

You wouldn't, Commie.

mike @ May 7th 2008 9:54PM

i can only play for an hour or 2 before I need to take an hour break before coming back to it. I think its because off all the tiny text and blurry backgrounds. I love the game but this game is deffenitly not easy on the eyes. Ive done 50 missions, but ive already got almost all the multiplayer achievements.

Donald @ May 7th 2008 10:11PM

I'm about 27% done with maybe 10 hours(?) of game time this past week. I actually haven't even turned on my 360 in 2 days. It hasn't consumed my life as much as some other people.

Abhinav Kumar @ May 7th 2008 10:15PM

Oh snap to say the least.

JeffM @ May 7th 2008 10:26PM

My GTAIV is still safe in the cellophane. I'm not ready to have my life grind to a halt quite yet...

tylersmyler @ May 7th 2008 10:46PM

You've got balls man. serious balls of stone.

Trippy Haps @ May 7th 2008 11:39PM

I've been playing everyday since launch day, but I'm totally ashamed to admit how little I've actually progressed in the single-player.

What was supposed to be a "quick try" of the multiplayer has manifested into a pitiful addiction.

Can get's me enough of that Cops 'n Crooks, man!