Analyst predicts GTA V will sell 25m units in first year

We all know Grand Theft Auto V has done gangbusters at launch, but one analyst doesn’t expect it to lose momentum any time soon.

Doug Creutz of US firm Cowen & Company predicts Rockstar’s blockbuster will shift a whopping 25m units in its first year on sale, according to CVG.

He also estimates that more than 15m copies are already in gamers’ hands.

"For a game to sell 60 per cent of its first year units in just three days would be abnormally high; we esteem that Call of Duty sells about 45 to 50 per cent of its first year units in its first week at retail," Creutz explained in a business note.

"However, for now we are assuming that GTA V sales will be extremely front-loaded due to high gamer anticipation, and will also have a shorter sales tail given the launch of next-gen consoles in November."

Grand Theft Auto V is already the fastest-selling game of all time in the UK, selling 2.25m copies in its first week.

The game took a record $800m in sales during its first 24 hours.