Grand Theft Auto is arguably the biggest mainstream franchise in gaming, but with Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops outselling GTA IV and the franchise raking in billions, its position is in jeopardy. Analyst Michael Pachter believes that, with the Call of Duty series receiving such success (especially with a yearly installment), Rockstar’s GTA IP will lose its place as the biggest mainstream franchise in the market.
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter confidently told IndustryGamers:
Call of Duty is bigger, and GTA will not maintain its position as the world’s biggest mainstream franchise.
Pachter then said:
Eventually, Call of Duty may suffer from fatigue, and GTA could keep chugging along, but it will be 8 years before we can make that call.
The yet to be announced Grand Theft Auto V is largely believed to see a release in 2012. Analysts predict that the game will launch in late 2012 at the very earliest, and it’s hard to argue with that as it’s difficult to see Rockstar releasing the game near Max Payne 3‘s scheduled March, 2012 launch.
