Video games are one of the largest forms of entertainment. Getting closer and closer to surpassing the movie industry, video games are making names for themselves.  People anticipate midnight releases of high-profile movies, so it only makes sense for them to do the same for video games.  Just like movies, all games don’t get a midnight release. There are only a select few that get to be a part of these elite titles.

Recently, the self-proclaimed “Game of the Year” Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V had a release at midnight in which more than 8,300 stores participated in.  According to a website called CinemaBlend, GTA V made about $800 Million dollars on their first day of release, completely destroying other popular titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Battlefield 3.  Rockstar’s Intentions were to make at least one billion in the first month,  but they’ve almost accomplished that goal within 24 hours. Now, they should be looking forward to bigger profits as time goes on because their profit spree is far from over. After the initial excitement of the Xbox 360 and Ps3 versions die off (which may take a while), it would behoove Rockstar to make a PC or next-generation version of the game.

GameStop features tons of activities during midnight releases and most of them follow a certain theme. For the Black Ops 2 midnight release they held tournaments in which you could earn in-game rewards or clothing that’s only exclusive to the title.  During the GTA V release they had special cases for the games that you could only get at midnight.

Midnight releases feature both excitement and a great social atmosphere; complete strangers can  become friends because of one shared passion: video games.  These events bring out collectors and dedicated gamers alike under one roof for one night, but once the clock hits twelve, the rush begins.