GTA IV: 46th Best-Selling Game In August
- Scribbled on September 14th, 2008 by Derrick Schommer
- Filed in Action, Editorial Content, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3
Like a washed up superstar, Grand Theft Auto IV continues to drop in NPD figures. This Axl Rose of video games came on strong and sputtered out into oblivion with barely a notice, leaving the spotlight and all hype behind it. This drastic fall may hurt any negotiations “behind closed doors” with Electronic Arts and their constant attempts to take over Take-Two.
Prior to the release of GTA IV we, in our gaming podcast, predicted a huge launch would up the anti against the bids on Take-Two from EA but things didn’t work out exactly as we expected. Although the game has sold 8.5-million units, it might not add any new bargaining power to the back door negotiations.
A game company is only as good as their games. A hit title which dies out quick helps financially guide the future of the company; technically the future isn’t so bright. With the title quickly falling off the top game sales charts we may never see it hit record sales figures to match that of smaller titles. Having one hot title every four years that “breaks records” for a week isn’t a strong weapon against a low bid from a larger publisher.
While EA may not have any record setting “one week” sales titles yet, they do have a consistently strong set of titles which stick on the charts for months with newer titles arriving to take their spot when they fade. The same can be said for a few other notable publishers, Activision and Ubisoft. To survive in the hot game industry, especially with market downturns, one must have a cycle of great games to publish throughout the year consistently year-over-year in order to provide evidence of their financial stability.
Assuming the bid won’t raise for GTA IV, where does that leave Take-Two? Perhaps Take-Two is better off under the umbrella of Electronic Arts after all. The waters are getting more hostile in the industry as companies compete for gamers attention with 100-million dollar titles and casual games and game consoles (read: Wii) start to build a whole new none-gamer-style momentum.
Is Take-Two better off under the EA brand?
(Originally posted at Gaming Podcast.)
September 14th, 2008 at 11:34 am
in no reference to the whole takeover thing.
BUT
Look at the sales of the consoles (360, PS3) at the moment, compared to when San Andreas was released on Xbox & PS2 and those sales. I ain’t defending the game – GTA4 is good, but def not GREAT compared to how fun the other games were. But in terms of sales i defend it.
The PS2 had sold well over 80million i presume when San Andreas was released and then it was released on the XBOX which had sold around 20million. At the moment, neither of the current consoles that play GTA4 have sold 20million.
GTA4 probably wouldn’t have sold as much as San Andreas if the 360 and PS3 sold way more consoles when it was released – but maybe people who were planning on buying GTA4 after seeing what it was like, realised it is a drastic change from the previous installments and Rockstar took a large chunk of features that made the game really fun, entertaining and enjoyable to play.
GTA4 is still a good game. Graphics are excellent and you still have the whole “killing rampage” and RS probably thought it was time for a different venture with the series and do things different. They succeeded in that partly, but at the same time what made GTA fun, was MANY thing they removed that were in San Andreas and Vice City.
Now from what i’ve ’seen’ of Saints Row 2, looks excellent. Graphics probably wont be as ‘great’ as GTA4 but at least they are sticking with their original and leaving features (and adding way more) to make the game fun but also serious. SR2 may be only the 2nd installment and they want to keep things the same in order to keep and gain fans – but in todays age, repetitive can get boring but also changing something ALOT is a big risk. Saints Row 2 probably wont sell as much as previous GTA installments, prob not even as much as GTA4 but, i know i will be buying it and they have already won me over with the features and the overall FUN of the game. I didnt buy the original – but what GTA4 lacks, Saints Row 2 looks like it will deliver.