The Telegraph technology writer Tom Hoggins stated:
” Given the pedigree and almost brutish levels of hype surrounding Grand theft Auto V, it would have been a surprise if this wasn’t the five-star humdinger that you expected. But here we are: Grand Theft Auto V is the pinnacle of open-world video game design and a colossal feat of technical engineering.”
Grand Theft Auto 5 was one of the most highly anticipated gaming releases this fall. However gaming experts expected that sales wouldn’t be out of this world due to timing. The Xbox One ($499 pre-order) and Playstation 4 ($399.99 pre-order) will be going on sale right before the holidays and will surely be eating into consumers’ budgets. Especially since GTA V is currently only supported by XBox 360 and Playstation 3 consoles.
However, prediction numbers fell drastically short and GTA V sold $800 million within 24 hours of its release. It’s feasible that Take Two (publishers of GTA V) will get to $1 billion in the near future. This is a a huge jump from the sales of GTA IV which sold $310 million on its release date and $500 million in its first week. Activision’s game series Call of Duty: Black ops 2 sold $500 million on its opening day and reached the $1 billion mark in sales after 15 days on the market, one day earlier than its predecessor.
Research claims that by 2016 the gaming industry will be valued at $83 billion. That’s a lot of Mario Karts. Online and mobile gaming advances are helping to boost the value of the industry. Research conducted by Digi-Capital, an investment bank for games, apps, and digital media services states that mobile and tablet profits can deliver 55% of the revenue. Traditional game publishers are enjoying booming sales, but they are aware of the shift in the video gaming industry.
Due to emerging technology, games can now be played via mobile phones and tablet devices for free or at low costs. This poses a challenge, but not a complete threat to traditional publishers because the market for big game releases seems to still be thriving greatly. Digi-Capital recommends that newly released gaming consoles from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo should incorporate free-to-play and allow more cross-platform play to help raise the decreased market share.
