In the past week, ChartTrack confirmed that Wii Fit has already racked up £16m in sales. And MCV understands that over a million copies of GTA IV have been shipped into UK retail this week – and as fans of Rockstar’s gangster series snap up next-gen consoles, industry sources suggest that the combined hardware and software sales boost from Wii Fit and GTA IV could reach £100m.
“Wii Fit has done very well. I can’t think of a similar week that’s matched this – it’s pretty incredible,” ChartTrack’s Chris Poole told MCV. “If history’s anything to go by, it all depends on GTA – that’s going to be the main reason for hardware sales increases. The week before San Andreas’ release in 2004, the market stood at £20.8m. The week after, it was £43.3m. It more than doubled, and it looks likely to happen again.”
The retail community has understandably come out to praise the two titles.
“With two ground-breaking titles being released in the space of a few days, the games industry has never been so healthy,” said Zavvi’s Stephen Lynn.
PC World’s Rene Wright added: “The broadened appeal of two huge products such as GTA IV and Wii Fit means that we are seeing a huge cross section of customers driven in to the store.”
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