World-record authority Guinness today confirmed that Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto IV has smashed the record for day-one grosses generated by a video game and any entertainment product. The game sold approximately 3.6 million units on its first day at retail to earn $310 million, an opening that surely makes every movie studio head green with envy. The record officially establishes the controversial game as the most profitable entertainment release of all time, crushing previous record holder Halo 3 from Microsoft, which raked in $170 million in its first 24 hours in September of 2007.
The best any Hollywood movie has done in its first day is $60 million. Sony’s Spider-Man 3 managed that last summer on its way to a record-breaking $151 million opening weekend. Even Harry Potter book sales can’t compete with interactive mayhem. The latest and supposedly final chapter in the saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, made $220 million at the nation’s book stores during its first day.
GTA 4 is featured in the The Guinness World Records: Gamer’s Edition 2008, the first Guinness World Records book devoted solely to the world of gaming. Featuring various record-setting feats, high score statistics and interesting facts, the volume is on shelves now.
