The new Marvel film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, had a monster opening weekend, roughly $927 million worldwide, months after it broke the record set by the second trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI. Naturally, the number drew comparisons to Grand Theft Auto V, which, back in 2013, passed over $1 billion sales in just three days, a record number confirmed by Take-Two Interactive and the Guinness World Records. At the time, it was the fastest any entertainment product ever, games or movies, had reached that mark, and it still is. The second-best-selling video game of all time remains the benchmark to this day.
Simply put, a video game set a bar so high that one of the biggest films ever made still could not quite clear it thirteen years later. Sure, it got within striking distance, but even if it did surpass it, it's worth repeating over and over again that the last Grand Theft Auto set the record over a decade ago.
This, then, brings us to the obvious question here, what happens when GTA 6 arrives?
Because of GTA V set that record in 2013, GTA 6 is expected to mog it, as the kids say these days. Analysts have thrown around genuinely absurd projections, with some optimistic scenarios suggesting it could pull in several billion dollars in its first week alone.
Why GTA 6 Could Shatter the Record
The Factor | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
A higher price | At around $80 a copy, each sale counts for more |
A bigger audience | Far more players own current consoles than in 2013 |
Years of hype | The most anticipated game in history, pre-sold on demand |
The retail advantage | Game sales keep more per dollar than box office does |
Four reasons why GTA 6 could be the one entertainment product to beat the record set by GTA 5.
The game that holds the fastest-to-a-billion crown may well be beaten by its own sequel, and not by a hair. We have written about how GTA 6 is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch ever, and a several-billion-dollar first week would make even a record-setting Spider-Man weekend look modest.
Of course, the analyst projections we have gotten so far are mere guesses, and the $80 price tag, along with the controversies surrounding its physical release, or lack thereof, and close association with the PlayStation brand, could dampen day-one buying for some, though the pre-order numbers we have gotten so far suggests otherwise. Records get predicted a lot more easily than they get broken, but the end result is not really in doubt.
If anything is going to set a much higher bar for any other entertainment product to clear in the future, and by a wide margin at that, it's this game.