Local gamers queue up on Grand Theft Auto V launch day

Avid gamers across the region queued outside stores overnight to get their hands on one of the year’s most eagerly anticipated releases.


People queuing outside Game in Broadgate

Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V) was officially released today and hype was to be expected with the budget to produce and market the game reportedly bigger than most Hollywood blockbuster movies – at a whopping £175million.

Thousands of gamers flocked to stores across Coventry and Warwickshire, with some queuing outside overnight. Shops which started selling the game at midnight included Game, in Rugby, and the Arena Park Tesco, in Coventry, which both reported long lines of customers.

Among those waiting in a line of about 50 people from 9am at Game, in Broadgate, Coventry, was Daniel Charley, 23, of Stoke Heath.

He said: “I have been waiting for this for a while, it’s received rave reviews so I thought I would get this one as well. What attracted me to it was all the reviews and the videos that have come out – it looks pretty good.

“They say it cost £176m to make or something like that. It doesn’t surprise me, not with the content that’s in it. I think it is good value for money, I don’t see why not if you play it enough.”

Phil Thorpe, 38, of Kenilworth, was also waiting: “I’m here so early today for my kids! I’ve come to get the game for my son who is at college today so he couldn’t come and get it himself.

“I don’t play at all to be honest, I’ve never even played a Playstation. The game is not really my cup of tea. The cost to make these games is crazy.”

Craig Taggart, 18, of Coundon, said: “The graphics look unbelievably good on it and you just get loads more stuff on this than you did on the last one. It just looks much better than all the others they have done.

"It’s reasonably priced – it could maybe be a little bit lower, but it’s a good price because it’s under £50 which is lower than a lot of other games that come out.

“People say that playing these games can make you violent and do stupid things, but it’s just a game!”

A poll of 10,995 people by gaming site IGN.com reckoned thousands of workers took the day off for the launch or called in sick.

According to its findings, 46 per cent said they booked the day off as holiday, 19 per cent said they would phone in claiming to be unwell, while 35 per cent said they would wait to get their hands on the game.

The Grand Theft Auto series has sold 135m copies since its 1997 debut, while GTA IV has reportedly sold more than 25m copies since its 2008 release.

Coventry computer games expert says Grand Theft Auto V shows gaming is overtaking movies



One of the city’s leading game experts believes the £175million investment in producing and marketing the new Grand Theft Auto V is money well spent.

Felix Bradshaw, sales and marketing director at Serious Games Institute, based in Cheetah Road, Cheylesmore, said the investment was likely to pay off several times over and that gaming was moving towards replacing movies.

The former Codemasters employee has over ten years experience of the industry, having worked on titles such as Colin McRae Rally and Brian Lara Cricket.

He said: “Gaming has replaced the blockbuster movie and GTA is a Goliath of the games world. The development cost of Gran Turismo was £60m, so that gives you an idea of scale.

“Games are really expensive to build these days, it will take three of four years on average for a good game.

“They have to develop it for all the different platforms and they will each have their own royalty fees.

“They would have over 100 people working on the game around the clock for a few years and they are the best of the best. As a rule of thumb it’s £30,000 per music track used in a game, then there’s marketing, sales and distribution costs.

“The market as a whole is a lot less inventive now, there’s such a big risk attached to making a game of that size when there’s no guarantee that sales will be there.

“That’s why developers prefer to invest in established brands like GTA. It’s expected to make over $1 billion in it’s first month. It’s developed by some very talented people at Rockstar who always build on success.

“You pay around £40 and you will be entertained for a minimum of 30 hours. Games are now the complete entertainment solution.”