Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey has said that Rockstar’s forthcoming Grand Theft Auto IV may ship as many as 5.8 million units globally in its first week of release.
Hickey’s comments come following a note to Gamestop investors this week, where he discussed a number of titles expected to yield strong sales at retail for the year.
Highlighting GTA IV, which is scheduled to launch worldwide on April 29, Hickey stated, "We expect [GameStop] will benefit from the release of GTA IV in their fiscal Q2 08 period, which could ship 5.8 million units in the first week or $360 million in retail sales and potentially $110 million for the Company.”
His comments echo that of Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter, who said last month that he expects the crime romp to ship around 6 million units worldwide in one week.
Touching on this statement, Pachter told Next-Gen.biz yesterday, "That number is unlikely to sell through right away, probably closer to 4 million units.”
Stay tuned.