On Tuesday, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto V to the world five years after the last game hit store shelves. Demand for Rockstar’s latest open-world action game was high, but just how successful was it?

Take Two Interactive announced today that Grand Theft Auto V made more than $800 million in world wide sales on its first day. That means Rockstar’s latest holds the new first days sales record for a video game. The previous record holder was last year’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II which managed to sell through $500 million worth of copies in its first day on store shelves.

Take Two is obviously pleased by GTAV’s performance, and can’t wait to make even more money when the game launches in Brazil and Japan later this year:

“All of us at Take-Two are thrilled with the initial response to Grand Theft Auto V. Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves, setting the entertainment industry’s new standard for creativity, innovation and excellence,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “Beginning at midnight on Monday, consumers around the world gathered in anticipation to be among the first to experience the evolution of this remarkable series. In North America alone, more than 8,300 stores opened their doors at midnight to welcome fans whose loyalty and enthusiasm were rewarded with what The New York Times called ‘the most immersive spectacle in interactive entertainment’. We are incredibly proud of Rockstar Games’ creative achievement and could not be more pleased with the success of this launch.”

Besides being a commercial success, GTAV has proven to be quite the critical darling as well. The Xbox 360 version of the game is currently sitting at a 98 on Metacritic with over 25 perfect scores. In fact, the only outlet so far to rate the game below a 90 was The Escapist who called out the game’s story for featuring morally reprehensible characters that betrays Rockstar’s history of telling stories about well-intentioned men being drawn into the darker side of humanity.

Regardless of how the critics feel, the gamers responded with their dollars in such a manner that ensures Grand Theft Auto will remain one of the cornerstones of gaming for years to come.

[Image: RockstarGames/YouTube]