Grand Theft Auto 5 is due out September 17, and the video game industry is definitely forward to the game coming out so that it can save the financial year for the industry.
The NPD Group is expected to release the sales figures for the video game industry for March tomorrow, and sales are expected to be down 15% from last year, according to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia and Gamespot. These lowered sales figures are expected to continue for much of the year, that is until Grand Theft Auto 5 is released. It is the only game that figures to reverse the falling sales trends and produce a bump in sales figures overall. In addition, the industry is expected to receive a major boost when the PlayStation 4 and next-gen Xbox are released later this year.
Sales for March were overall disappointing, as Gears of War: Judgment and God of War: Ascension failed to sell as many copies as the previous games in the series. Bioshock: Infinite was the best selling game of the month, able to sell around three-quarters of a million copies during the month on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (NPD does not track PC sales).
With many franchises failing to reach their expected sales figures (or just failing to sale as many copies as previous games in the series), the industry needs a huge blockbuster like Grand Theft Auto 5 to reverse these trends. Bear in mind, sales of both games and consoles traditionally slow down in the time before a new generation of consoles is released. Despite the large amounts of titles slated to arrive before the end of the year, many will fall short of sales goals as gamers begin to prepare for the next-gen. Grand Theft Auto 5 is one of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year, so gamers should flock to the title and begin the upswing for the industry.