GTA IV: Numbers, Numbers, and More Numbers

Both Microsoft and Game|Life have each compiled interesting lists focused on numbers surrounding the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. So if either numbers or GTA isn’t your thing, you should probably just move on.

According to Microsoft’s US team:

• Actual MS sales data from last week shows Xbox 360 console sales at retail went up 54% week-over-week as a result of GTA’s success
• According to retailers more than 60% of all GTA games sold in the first week were the Xbox 360 version
• Retailers are telling us that the game is attaching strongly to new console sales, with roughly 40% of new consoles selling with a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV

As for Xbox Live:

• In the first week, more than 2.3 million people played Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox Live
• GTA IV is now the number one played game on Xbox Live
• Over the weekend, we saw the Xbox Live service reach 1 million concurrent users
• Gamers have unlocked more than 12 million achievements worth over 100 million gamerscore points in GTA
• Grand Theft Auto IV set a new record for time played, with the average gamer spending more than four hours playing the game on Live in the first week alone

And some of the random facts Game|Life has compiled:

• Damages sought by Take-Two after GTA IV ads were pulled from Chicago buses: $300,000
• Steps included in official fix for PlayStation 3 issues: 12
• Current Metacritic rating: 99
• Restraining orders filed against the game: 1

The numbers don’t really lie, so it’s fun to take a look at them and try to crunch some of these numbers. And to think, the game’s only been out for a little over a week.