Take-Two Discusses GTA IV DLC Success

In a recent conference call with investors, Take-Two CEO Ben Feder discussed the performance of both downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV expansions that were released exclusively for the Xbox 360 this year. Despite the critical acclaim both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony received, it appears as though neither of the DLC-packages sold as well as expected.

Explaining possible reasons for these results, Feder stated “that some factors have affected their performance. Both were released significantly after the core unit […] GTA IV, which was launched in April of 2008 and therefore weren’t able to leverage GTA IV’s initial marketing campaign and initial launch fervor.” Addressing the recent estimate by Michael Pachter that the compilation-disc of both DLC episodes, known as Episodes from Liberty City, sold around 100.000 units since its release late October, Feder told the investors that “Episodes From Liberty City seems to have been most appealing to those who have finished GTA IV and wanted more story and gameplay, which is a smaller market than initially expected.”

Nevertheless, he did view the episodes as “profitable contributors to the company”, yet whether or not this estimate takes the rumoured 50 Million dollar paid by Microsoft for exclusivity, is not clear.