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Grand Opening Weekend
How a video game made $500 million in a week
The summer blockbuster season started during the last week of April with the releases of Iron Man and Madonna's Hard Candy. The movie took in more than $200 million, for reasons I've already written about. And the album did well in a poor market for music. But the real hit of the season, and probably of the year, is Grand Theft Auto IV.
If you've barely heard of it, you're not alone. But the game took in more than $500 million in its first week in stores – almost certainly a record for any kind of entertainment. Exact comparisons are difficult: Video games sell a higher percentage of their total copies during their first week in stores. And Iron Man and Madonna have other revenue streams, such as DVDs and concert tickets. But it's hard to argue that video games can be a better business for the companies that make them. While Iron Man cost well over $100 million, no video game has come close to costing half of that.
One question this raises is why the media still don't take video games more seriously. The big publishers get extensive coverage in the business press. But there still aren't many critics who cover the games, and they rarely get much space compared to reviewers of, say, Iron Man. This is one reason why more young people don't read newspapers. To the average 20-year-old, Grand Theft Auto IV is an event, while Madonna is an old celebrity who won't dress her age. I'm not saying that Grand Theft Auto IV is necessarily art – but neither is Hard Candy.
If you've barely heard of it, you're not alone. But the game took in more than $500 million in its first week in stores – almost certainly a record for any kind of entertainment. Exact comparisons are difficult: Video games sell a higher percentage of their total copies during their first week in stores. And Iron Man and Madonna have other revenue streams, such as DVDs and concert tickets. But it's hard to argue that video games can be a better business for the companies that make them. While Iron Man cost well over $100 million, no video game has come close to costing half of that.
One question this raises is why the media still don't take video games more seriously. The big publishers get extensive coverage in the business press. But there still aren't many critics who cover the games, and they rarely get much space compared to reviewers of, say, Iron Man. This is one reason why more young people don't read newspapers. To the average 20-year-old, Grand Theft Auto IV is an event, while Madonna is an old celebrity who won't dress her age. I'm not saying that Grand Theft Auto IV is necessarily art – but neither is Hard Candy.
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10:42 EDT, 15.May.08