Grand Theft Auto DS Misses Sales Expectations

While analysts had predicted that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars would see first month sales of anywhere from 200K to 450K units, sales-tracking group NPD has revealed that Rockstar's Nintendo DS exclusive sold far under those expectations.

From its release on March 17 to the end of NPD's tracking period on April 4, the mature-rated title sold a mere 89,000 units in the US, the firm confirmed with Joystiq.

Publisher Take-Two's internal sales expectations for the game are unknown.

"The disappointing first month sales reinforce our view that achieving meaningful success on Nintendo platforms remains a very difficult proposition for third party publishers," Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz told Gamasutra, noting his belief that the lower-than-expected sales were "not due to any misexecution on Take-Two's part."