Analyst: The Lost And Damned Can Sell 2 Million By October

Xbox Live Marketplace exclusive The Lost and Damned will see total sales of over 2 million downloads by the end of October, according to estimates by Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. Although Microsoft was happy to announce that the first slice of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV had broken sales records on Xbox Live, no specific sales data has been made available. In a recent investment note, though, Pachter estimates that current downloads stand at over 1 million. He suggests that this figure is likely to double by the end of publisher Take-Two’s financial year on October 31st. He also predicts that this success will in turn help the company to meet its full-year financial estimates. Although critical of Take-Two in the past, Pachter has been largely positive in his most recent appraisal of the company –- although he described the Rockstar owner as a 'one-hit wonder', he also praised the stability offered by a franchise like GTA. In his note he was confident enough in Take-Two’s cautious estimates to raise his rating for the company from Hold to Buy. He also predicted that the next retail version of Grand Theft Auto IV would launch in 2010, with potential unit sales of 15 to 18 million units.