With the GTA 5 release date now just days away, UK retailers have reported a huge rise in sales of the title’s five year old predecessor, GTA 4.

Despite GTA 4 having hit retirement age, supermarket giant Asda has revealed that the precursor to the imminent GTA 5 release has received something of a second wind, becoming one of the highest selling games at the moment despite having been first released way back in 2008.

"GTA 4 has been flying off the shelves in anticipation," Asda's head of video games Craig Thirkell said in a recent interview with MCV. Discussing next week’s GTA 5 release date he added: "[GTA 5] marks the first of our midnight launches for 2013. We have a few surprises up our sleeves to keep our customers happy on the night."

While GTA 4 has sold a massive 25 million copies since launch, it is predicted that GTA 5 could become the biggest game release in history, eclipsing the usually dominant Call of Duty franchise in terms of both units sold and profits generated.

Ahead of next Tuesday’s September 17 GTA 5 release date, a selection of retailers have confirmed they will hold GTA 5 midnight openings. While Asda is one of many outlets to confirm it will fling open its doors as the clocks tick midnight, high street presences HMV and GAME have also confirmed that they will hold GTA 5 midnight openings at hundreds of stores around the country.

Although the game has only been confirmed for PS3 and Xbox 360, earlier this week Xbox One GTA 5 box art appeared on Amazon Germany, hinting that the long awaited title could make it to next-gen consoles after all.

Posted: Sep 14, 2013 6:43 am
Related Forum: Grand Theft Auto Forum

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