Take-Two Interactive has shipped over 13 million copies of Grand Theft Auto IV, the company announced today, revealing sales of more than $256 million for its holiday 2008 quarter and a $50 million loss.
GTA IV figures were dated to January 31st, prior to the release of the first downloadable episode The Lost And Damned. Both sales and losses were up from the same quarter from the previous year, with sales up by $16.4 million, losses increasing by $12.4 million. Take-Two said that higher marketing, legal fees and R&D costs led to the increased losses.
Grand Theft Auto IV sales reached 10 million in its first four-and-a-half months on the market, with the next 3 million taking five-and-a-half months.
The parent company of 2K Games and Rockstar Games pointed to quarterly sales led by Grand Theft Auto IV, Carnival Games, NBA 2K9 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
2K's Carnival Games franchise, which includes Carnival Games, and Carnival Games MiniGolf, has shipped over four million units worldwide since launch, Take-Two noted.
Take-Two reported a loss of $15 million the previous quarter, but chairman Strauss Zelnick called the first fiscal 09 quarter "better than expected."