Celebrating the release of the widely-acclaimed GTA IV, Rockstar opened today 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.

Also, Rockstar Social Club features a Hall of Fame and the first competition is already on. If you are a “true GTA die-hard” keep an eye out for the GTA IV 100% Club Competition. Those players who attain 100% within seven days after the release of GTA IV will receive a limited edition ‘key to the city.’

Prizes will be specially manufactured after the number of winners are confirmed and may take up to 120 days to produce, Rockstar said. Winners will be notified by email of the date they should expect to receive their prize.

Meanwhile, although Rockstar did not release any details about the GTA IV sales, the forecasts are pouring in.

It is widely believed that GTA IV will surpass Halo 3 in terms of sales during the first week of availability and the analysts are forecasting that the game will earn somewhere between $360 and $400 million.

Stuart Rowe, Chief Operating Officer at Play.com, verified the game’s status within the gaming world as he said, "Grand Theft Auto IV is going to break all previous records when it comes to gaming.”

"We're experiencing trading levels similar to what we would see in the run up to Christmas, taking over 80 orders per minute at peak times. We have had to recruit extra warehouse staff to work through the night to ensure product arrives on the day of launch."

Even the Take Two officials are optimistic about the game’s financial potential. Speaking with Reuters, Take-Two's CEO Ben Feder said the company’s expectations are “higher than analysts give the game credit for”.

"All the analysts had a (sales) number, give or take, and I think we will be on the upside of that rather than the downside,” he said. The analysts have forecasted that the game will sell nine million units until the end of the financial year.

The spammers are also trying to take advantage of the game’s popularity. Gamers desperate to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto IV are being targeted by record amounts of spam offering free entry to a competition to win PlayStation 3s and the much lauded game.

However, these illicit emails actually contain spyware and “Trojan Horse” viruses intended to steal personal financial information and attack victims' computers, according to ClearMyMail.