GTA IV is already here, and what have we learned so far? Unfortunately, as Rockstar continues to refuse to release any official figures about the game sales in its first day of availability, we still have to wait until next week before proclaiming its launch the “biggest event” in the entertainment industry.

However, as ChartTrack has reported that the game has sold 609,000 units only in UK during its first day, we can be sure that GTA IV will easily surpass the previous record held by Halo 3, which achieved sales of $170 million in the first day of availability.

In the meantime, the marketing battle between Microsoft and Sony that started last month has continued, both companies claiming increased sales of their gaming platforms, although no figures were disclosed.

Still, during an interview with Next-Gen, Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, claimed that Microsoft was informed by its retailers that the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV is outselling the PS3 version by a margin of two to one.

Microsoft believes that the exclusive content promised by Rockstar for Xbox Live will help their console to sell better than PS3.

In a statement release after the GTA IV’s launch, Microsoft reminded the gamers that, starting this autumn, the owners of Xbox 360 will have access to exclusive GTA IV episodes.

Microsoft and Rockstar signed the agreement regarding the exclusive content in 2006, but no details are known so far. Microsoft only said it would add “hours of gameplay”. To counter Microsoft’s move, Sony has launched a GTA IV bundle in PAL territories.

Greenberg also revealed that GTA IV already was a smash hit on Microsoft’s online service. In the first day of GTA IV madness, nearly 1 million GTA IV users went online with the game on Xbox Live, which means that the game has established a new record, knocking off Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4.

On the other hand, a Sony official expressed his belief that GTA IV would drive PS3 sales, but he declined to get into details.

Letting aside the Microsoft versus Sony marketing battle, GTA IV was greeted with rave reviews from the gaming and mainstream media alike.

Grand Theft Auto IV isn’t just another game, it is this year’s sensation - a combination between a video game and a complex story, with special missions and an open city where the gamers could do different things from driving to reading newspapers and browsing the Internet. In an interview, Rockstar’s Dan Houser told Variety that his ambition was to create something like a gangster movie rather than a game and it seems like Rockstar has accomplished its mission.

In addition, during the past few days it was revealed that the budget invested in the new Rockstar’s title was of approximately $100 million.

In an interview with Times Online, GTA IV producer Leslie Benzies has confirmed the budget and he said that a team of 1,000 people was involved in the creation of the game in the past three and a half years.

Also, celebrating the release of GTA IV, Rockstar opened the virtual gates of its Rockstar Social Club, a place where the GTA IV fans (and not only) will find various leaderboards, virtual events and more. For example, the site offers performance-based competitions and awards for players of all skill levels.

The launch was not flawless and there were reports about a freezing problem that affects the game on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rockstar did not say anything official about this problem, which seems to affect a small numbers of copies, but the gaming site Kotaku said the company was working around the clock to issue a patch.

Of course, the game had its share of criticism. Because Niko Bellic can drive while drunk in the game, Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) requested more severe restrictions on the game’s rating. The organization warned about the thousands of victims who die each year in drunk driving accidents, saying the manufacturer of the game shouldn’t have introduced the game module that allows players to drive while drunk, saying “drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable.”

All the above pretty much covers what has happened with GTA IV in the past five days, while the gamers were busy fooling around in Liberty City. Let’s see what the next week will bring.