Game reception and rating: Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV has received universal acclaim from video game critics and is one of the highest reviewed games of all time. The review aggregators GameRatio and TopTenReviews rank Grand Theft Auto IV as the best scoring game ever reviewed.[135] Grand Theft Auto IV is the tied second highest-rated game according to Metacritic and fourth on Gamerankings. Ahead of its worldwide release, most publications were not sent copies of the game. Instead, reviewers had to play the game on Rockstar premises or in booked hotel rooms.[136][137]

The May 2008 issue of Official Xbox Magazine (UK) published the first Grand Theft Auto IV review, giving the game the maximum score of 10/10. The magazine also stated that the game has an "amazingly realistic world; stunning action set pieces; genuinely engrossing storyline; hugely entertaining multiplayer;" and that it is "vast in every respect."[133] PlayStation Official Magazine (UK) also gave the game 10/10 in their May 2008 issue, describing the game as "a masterpiece that improves on all GTA's best bits."[38] Xbox World 360 gave the game a 98% rating, the highest it has ever given to any game, mentioning the game was "everything we were entitled to expect, and yet somehow impossibly more."[138] GameSpot gave the game a perfect 10,[126][139] making it the first game since 2001 that GameSpot had rated perfect. The review called the game "compelling", with a "plethora of online multiplayer features" and stated that GTA IV is "undoubtedly the best Grand Theft Auto yet."[126]

Hilary Goldstein of IGN gave the game a 10/10 score, with the game earning 10/10 in each individual category: presentation, sound, graphics, gameplay, and lasting appeal. It is the first game in the publication's history to receive straight-10 subscores across the board. Goldstein called the game "just as big a leap forward as Grand Theft Auto III, albeit in subtler ways", and said it "sets a new benchmark for open-world games", with "no one major weak aspect". Goldstein's only serious criticism was for "the occasional flaw in the cover system", but the review concluded with the statement that "We don't give 10s often—just to games that merit the score."[131]

The British newspaper Daily Star gave it a positive review, praising: "This could be a console defining title, one that in years to come people will remember as the stand-out of the era."[140] The New York Times wrote a favourable review as well, calling it a "violent, intelligent, profane, endearing, obnoxious, sly, richly textured and thoroughly compelling work of cultural satire disguised as fun."[34] The film magazine Empire gave the game a perfect 5/5 in its game reviews section, calling it "damn-near perfect".[141]

Despite the almost unanimous praise given to GTA IV, the game has received some criticism, particularly its Windows port.[142] A review in Ars Technica states that the game "...[is] not perfect. It does not deserve unquestioned, unadulterated praise. In many ways, the slight regression of the series from San Andreas is surprising: there are fewer vehicles, weapons, and story missions, less character customisation, and even the size of the city itself is smaller."[143] GameSpot noted that there are occasional problems with friendly AI and avoiding the police being "a little too easy."[126] There were some minor complaints with the game's cover system, which reviewers noted, stumbled in box-filled environments and the stickiness of cover points being an issue.[121][131][133] The occasional presence of noticeable pop-in was also criticized.[117][121][133]

In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[144]
[edit] Commercial success

Shares of Take-Two Interactive gained 3.4% amid positive reviews before the game's launch.[145] Scott Hillis of Reuters said first week sales of the game were expected to reach $400 million.[145] Some observers suggested that GTA IV's success could dampen the box office for the 2 May 2008 release of Iron Man, setting a precedent where movie studios will begin browsing video game release dates to check for conflicts.[146] Matt Richtel of The New York Times said the game's release was "expected to be one of the biggest video game debuts ever" and said 5 million copies of the game were expected to be sold in the first two weeks.[147] Analyst Michael Pachter predicted the game would sell 11 to 13 million units by the end of 2008. Pachter also expected Grand Theft Auto IV to represent 3.2% of all U.S. and European software sales for 2008 and for lifetime sales of the game to reach 16 to 19 million.[148] Analyst Evan Wilson predicted that Grand Theft Auto IV would have opening week sales of $550 million.[148]
Sales of Grand Theft Auto IV
Date Volume Ref
29 April 2008 3,600,000 [149]
7 May 2008 6,000,000
31 May 2008 8,500,000 [150]
16 August 2008 10,000,000 [151]
31 January 2009 13,000,000 [152]
3 March 2010 15,000,000 [153]
8 June 2010 17,000,000 [154]
19 February 2011 20,000,000 [155]
14 September 2011 22,000,000 [12]

Upon release, Grand Theft Auto IV claimed two entertainment industry sales records, posting the best single-day and seven-day sales totals for a video game.[156] The game sold more than 3.6 million copies on its first day of availability, while also selling 6 million copies in the first week of availability (garnering $500 million in sales).[157][158] In the United Kingdom, the game sold 631,000 copies on its first day of release,[159][160] making it the fastest-selling game in a 24 hour period within that region, according to Chart-Track.[161] The previous record holder in the UK, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sold 501,000 copies within 24 hours.[160][161][162] During the first five days of availability, the title sold 1.85 million units on the Xbox 360 and 1 million on the PlayStation 3 in the United States, according to the NPD Group;[163] in the United Kingdom the Xbox 360 version sold 514,000 copies and the PlayStation 3 version sold 413,000, according to Chart-Track.[160][164] The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Grand Theft Auto IV are the fifth and eighth best-selling games of 2008 in the United States respectively. The Xbox 360 version sold in excess of 3.29 million, while the PlayStation 3 version sold in excess of 1.89 million for a combined 5.18 million copies in 2008 in the region.[165] GameStop and EB Games reported that the game led in sales the first week after its release, noting that its stores in Puerto Rico led all districts in pre-release reservations and sales 48 hours after its release.[166]

On 13 May 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV broke the Guinness World Records for "Highest grossing video game in 24 hours" and "Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours". It sold 3.6 million copies on day one, which equalled roughly $310 million in revenue. For first day sales it also broke the record of "Fastest-selling video game in 24 hours", previously held by Halo 3 at $170 million,[167] however, its record was broken in November 2009 by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

As of 31 May 2008, the title has sold over 11 million copies to retailers and 8.5 million have been sold through to consumers, according to Take-Two Interactive.[168] According to the NPD Group and GfK Chart-Track, the game has sold 4.711 million units in the US and 1.582 million in the UK, for a total of 6.293 million units as of 1 August 2008.[169] As of 16 August 2008, the title has sold over 10 million copies through to consumers, according to Take-Two Interactive.[170] In its first four days of availability in Japan, the title sold 133,000 copies on the PlayStation 3 and 34,000 on the Xbox 360, according to Media Create.[171]

Sales for the Windows version of the game were considerably less successful. According to NPD Group the game debuted at #7 of their weekly top ten.[172] One week later, the game disappeared completely from the top ten published by NPD Group.[173][174]

On 3 March 2010, Take-Two Games announced that Grand Theft Auto IV has sold 15 million units globally.[175] On 9 June 2010, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV had sold over 17 million copies.[176] On 10 March 2011, Take-Two announced that Grand Theft Auto IV had sold over 20 million copies and Grand Theft Auto series has now sold over 100 million copies.[177] As of September 2011, the game had sold over 22 million copies.[12]