Lifetime GTA IV sales near 20 million

Take-Two have released a swathe of sales figures during a presentation at the Wedbush Securities Technology, Media & Telecommunications Conference - chief of which was a figure of nearly twenty million sales for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Grand Theft Auto as a franchise has now shifted over 100 million units, making it the publisher's most successful property by more than a factor of five. Next biggest selling is the Midnight Club street racing series, totalling 18 million sales across all games.

In the Red Dead franchise, Redemption alone has sold over eight million units, around the same number as both BioShock titles combined. In total, Take-Two publishes 16, internally-owned, million-plus selling franchises. 29 titles within those franchises have sold more than two million copies worldwide.

Several impressive fiscal stats were also unveiled during the slide-show, with the presentation showing that net revenues had grown by 80 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of fiscal 2011. Estimated total net income for fiscal 2011 is now set at around $1.1 billion, reflecting better than expected financial results for Q3, 2010.

Executives were also keen to exhibit the broadness of the company's portfolio, pointing out that the Civilization franchise has tipped over ten million lifetime sales, and the various Carnival Games titles for Wii and DS have now moved over seven million. Mafia I and II were attributed five million sales between them, whilst Borderlands managed 4 million. Max Payne, which has a much-delayed sequel in the works, totals seven million across two titles.