Grand Theft Auto IV has broken all previous records – selling an estimated 609,000 units 

Thursday 1st May/… ELSPA, the Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers’ Association, today reports that day one sales of Rockstar Games’ hugely anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 have comfortably eclipsed the previous record set by GTA: San Andreas in 2004. Tuesday 29th April sell through for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 reached 609,000 units - comfortably beating the previous record: GTA: San Andreas for PS2, which sold 501,000 units on Friday 29th October, 2004.

“The scale of GTA’s day one sales are phenomenal and reflect a vibrant market which continues to grow. Gamers are from all age groups and demographics with estimates putting the total number of people in the UK who enjoy games at over 20 million,” said ELSPA managing director, Mike Rawlinson.

All-time No1
Initial Day 1 ‘GTA: San Andreas’ PS2 was Friday 29th October, 2004 at 501K units.

GTA IV combined PS3/360 (All formats record)
Initial Day 1 sales are estimated at 609K units for Tuesday 29th April which is a new record.

Xbox 360
Microsoft’s ‘Halo 3′ launched on Wed 26th Sep07 and the day 1 sales were 266K units.

The new 24 hour record is ‘GTA IV’ which on initial estimates recorded 335K units on Day 1, Tuesday 29th April.

PS3
The previous record has been well and truly eclipsed. This was set recently by Sony’s ‘Gran Turismo 5: Prologue’ launched on Friday 28th March with Day 1 sales of 80K.

The new 24 hour record is ‘GTA IV’ which on initial estimates recorded 274K units on Day 1, Tuesday 29th April.

Includes Wings of the Goddess expansion

London (1st May 2008) – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, today announces the forthcoming release of FINAL FANTASY® XI 2008 Edition, available from 23rd May.

FINAL FANTASY XI takes you into the world of Vana’diel® during the aftermath of a great war, as you answer a desperate call to defend your people. In this first ever cross-platform massively multiplayer online game, you’ll unite with other warriors as they save their world from utter destruction.

The brand-new 2008 Edition available for both Windows® and Xbox 360™ contains all four expansion packs, Rise of the Zilart™, Chains of Promathia™, Treasures of Aht Urghan™ and the latest expansion pack Wings of the Goddess™.

John Yamamoto, president and chief executive officer of Square Enix Ltd. comments, "The world of FINAL FANTASY XI continues to grow with both new content and new players. FINAL FANTASY XI 2008 Edition allows interested players to join the adventure with the bonus of all the expansion pack content. I hope many more players enjoy and experience the exciting world of Vana’diel and all that FINAL FANTASY XI has to offer."

About WINGS OF THE GODDESS

New Combat Features:
An all-new "Allied Campaign" system will allow players to take part in large-scale battles and explore new special dungeons
New Areas:
New settings further expand the vast world of Vana’diel
Mog House Guests:
Players will be able to invite their friends to their Mog Houses, showing their personalised furniture and special items. It is a new way to talk about past adventures and future plans in an entirely customised setting.
New Jobs: Dancer and Scholar
New Monsters

About FINAL FANTASY XI

FINAL FANTASY XI was originally released on May 2002. In October 2003 the title was released in North America and the European release followed in September 2004.

FINAL FANTASY XI is the first MMORPG capable of simultaneous multiplayer action across three different platforms, allowing players worldwide to combine forces on Windows, PlayStation®2 (North America and Japan only) and Xbox 360.

FINAL FANTASY XI players from all over the world can unite in one gaming universe in a community of more than 500,000 players, and 1.7 million characters.

March 2007 saw the introduction of the French and German language versions of FINAL FANTASY XI creating an influx of new players. Those already playing will tell you this has added to a vibrant multi-cultural online community.

FINAL FANTASY XI is the first ever MMORPG for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

For more information about FINAL FANTASY XI, please visit www.playonline.com.