Analysts at the Cowen Group expect Grand Theft Auto V to sell 18 million copies within the first 12 months of release. The number is a staggering amount of copies; but when put into perspective, GTA 4 has sold over 25 million copies, so the number maybe isn’t really that much of a surprise.

Word from Take-Two has indicated that pre-orders for GTA V are doing well and that, of course, is a good sign. The sales estimates from the Cowen Group should make Take-Two pretty happy when you combine this with the news of the pre-orders doing so well.