GTA makes record first week sales

Publicity for GTA IV has been hard to escape

In its first week Grand Theft Auto IV has continued the record breaking run begun on its first few days on sale.

Figures from Chart Track show the acclaimed title sold 926,000 copies in its first week in the UK - earning creator Rockstar �39.9m.

The figure easily eclipses the record set by GTA: San Andreas in 2004.

Take Two, which owns Rockstar, is expected to announce that GTA IV has sold more than six million copies worldwide in its first week.

Sales split

Chart Track issued corrected figures for first day sales for GTA IV saying the title sold 631,000 copies by close of business.

This single day figure is almost as much as the previous sales record holder, GTA: San Andreas, managed in its first week - 677,000 units.

Sales for GTA IV were almost evenly divided between the two consoles on which it is available.

Chart Track said that 55% of sales were on the Xbox 360 and the remainder on the PlayStation3.

The release of the game also had a salutary effect on sales of consoles too. Sales figures suggest that hardware sales for both consoles was up about 125%.

During its first week GTA IV set records for the biggest selling title on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Chart Track, which compiles sales figures for Elspa, said it counted sales from Sunday to Saturday so the first official week of GTA IV was only five days long.

Late on Wednesday Take Two is expected to release global figures for GTA IV sales. Early reports suggest the title has earned the company more than $500m (�255m) on the back of sales of six million copies of the game.

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