Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has said that he expects Rockstar’s upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV to shift more PlayStation 3 hardware than Xbox 360s.
Speaking to Reuters, Pachter commented, “If sales come in at the high end of that range, the game will directly spur sales of 2 million additional PS3s in 2008, versus 1 million Xbox 360s.”
“I think PS3 ‘wins’ this battle,” he added.
Similarly, BMO Capital Markets analyst Edward Williams observed that many consumers who bought into the series on PlayStation 2 are likely to see GTA IV as a reason to upgrade to Sony’s latest home console.
“So many people who owned the PS2 went into PlayStation family because of ‘GTA’. The release of ‘GTA4′ could expedite their decision to upgrade,” said Williams.
Grand Theft Auto IV is due out worldwide on April 29.