Former EA chief John Riccitiello: Grand Theft Auto V is ‘twice as large as the Super Bowl’

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Grand Theft Auto V is larger than the Super Bowl. So says John Riccitiello.

During the “Is Mobile vs. Console the Right Question” chat at GamesBeat 2013 on Wednesday morning, the former chief executive officer of video game publisher Electronic Arts — and now an investor in game companies — said Rockstar Games’ massive launch of GTA is a singular event not just in gaming but media. Publisher Take-Two Interactive revealed Tuesday that it had sold 29 million copies of the open-world game since its Sept. 17 release.

“[Grand Theft Auto V] shows up as the largest entertainment launch in history, going back to the 1800s and A Tale of Two Cities,” Riccitiello said. “It’s bigger than Star Wars. It’s twice the size of the Super Bowl.”

We’ll have more on Riccitiello’s statistic-rich presentation later this morning on GamesBeat.