GTA IV earns half a billion for Take-Two in one week

Grand Theft Auto IV, Take-Two Interactive's crown jewel of the sandbox game series, reportedly sold over 6 million copies of the game for Xbox 360 and PS3, earning the company over $500 million dollars in the first week alone.

Sales of the Grand Theft Auto games have historically been very swift, with composite NPD and VGcharts sales data ranking GTA: San Andreas and GTA: Vice City for PlayStation 2 the #3 and #5 all-time fastest selling games, falling only behind Microsoft's Halo series and Nintendo's recent Super Smash Brothers: Brawl.

Sales of GTA IV and the subsequent surplus of revenue to Take-Two may help repulse EA's hostile takeover bid, which is still outstanding. The $2 billion dollar bid offered shareholders $25.74 per share in hopes of EA gaining a majority stake in the company.

At midday today, Take-Two stocks were trading at $26.32; and if sales of the game meet projections, share prices will rise even further, either forcing EA to increase its bid or fold.