After three days, Grand Theft Auto V tops $1 billion in sales

Grand Theft Auto is one of the more critically acclaimed game franchises out there. It’s also one of the most controversial. Combine the two and it shouldn’t be a surprise that, over the years, the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been a very lucrative series. After three days of sales, it appears that Grand Theft Auto V won’t be an exception — sales are now above $1 billion for the game, which is available on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

Take-Two believes that the game has become the fastest “entertainment property” to reach $1 billion in sales, surpassing other video games and even feature films.

In a release pushed out today, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick stated, “We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical response to Grand Theft Auto V.” The title is once again developed by Rockstar, the company behind every Grand Theft Auto game since 1997.

This latest entry into the series is the first since 2008, when Grand Theft Auto IV hit the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles as well as Windows PCs.

The strong sales of Grand Theft Auto V are also great news for Microsoft and Sony, but what about the future consoles that both companies plan to launch later this fall? While there’s no official word from Take-Two, Rockstar, Microsoft or Sony about the game showing up on those next-generation consoles, analyst Colin Sebastian of Robert W. Baird & Co. expects that Grand Theft Auto V will show up on both systems sometime in 2014.

In terms of reviews, the title has been generally well received by critics. Its GameRankings average currently sits close to 97 percent with many respectable sites and publications awarding it the highest scores possible. The game hasn’t escaped without generating some negative headlines, though; in the wake of the Washington, D.C. Navy yard shooting, questions have been raised about whether violent video games play a factor in some violent crimes.

For what it’s worth, a solid link has yet to be established between the play of violent video games and real-life aggression.

Have you picked up Grand Theft Auto V for either the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 4? We’d love to know what you think of it, so drop us a line below.