Take-Two CEO thinks Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC was late to the party

Fielding a question on today's quarterly investors call regarding the performance of Grand Theft Auto 4's DLC double-header and the accompanying retail bundle – The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Episodes from Liberty City, respectively – Take-Two CEO Ben Feder admits, "Both we and Microsoft believed there was a big market for GTA 4 episodic content and some factors affected their performance." Calling the two companies' relationship "a historic, strategic partnership" – remember this? – and calling the episodes themselves "profitable contributors to the company," Feder nevertheless offered some insight into what his company could have done to make them even more profitable.

[Pennywise]

He said "The Ballad of GUY Tony". Tony might be a guy, but he is gay.

[Blaze929]

journalism fail

[Saaking]

It's an expansion to a nearly two year old game that's only one one console. When you EXCLUDE HALF your fanbase you can expect sales to be underwhelming.

[-Alpha]

I'm pretty sure they are aware they excluded the PS3 owners. If sales are lackluster they obviously mean they are lackluster on the 360, not because they excluded the PS3 owners

[Timesplitter14]

So what happened up there?

[Pennywise]

Hardcore, you just called out the wrong guy. I really hope it is you that wrote this drivel. The following is a quote from your article:

"With the Lost and the Damned released after 10 months of the original, and The Ballad of Guy Tony after 18 months of the original, I guess that the hype for playing these DLCs has worn off."

See the word GUY? You aren't even smart enough to stealth edit your article and you are calling other people names.... Blaze spoke 100% truth about failed journalism. I am just sad I had to give you another hit to prove this. This is what happens when a blogger tries to be a journalist.

[Limited_Vertigo]

Very poorly written article. Why do people with terrible writing skills decide to give the news?

[Mr_Bun]

"First of all I didn't wrote this..."
Are you sure you didn't "wrote" this? It has the same grammatical prowess as your posts.

The point is, just because someone can pick up a knife, doesn't mean they should pursue a career as a surgeon. The same is true to those who have access to a keyboard shouldn't assume they can "write".

[Pennywise]

You didn't "wrote"[sic] the article? Then why are you attacking us?

Read the article and not just the headline. Save yourself some embarrassment.

[Mr_Bun]

Yes, because that's what the world needs...ANOTHER blog.

[Sarcasm]

I honestly think by having the whole exclusivity deal is what made them lose potential sales.

Someone page captain obvious.

[blind-reaper]

bring it to PS3 and I will buy it, the ballad of gay Tony looks awesome (the lost and damned not too much).

[badz149]

you think?

seriously, the DLCs would of made so much more impact if released within the 1st 6 months after the game released but they fvcked up big time and took longer than what most gamers were anticipating! it just makes sense that the hype for the game have long been down and gamers had moved on to the slew of other great games! time to the market is crucial for competition especially for DLCs like these! they blew it by taking too long! I might as well say, M$ just wasted most of the $50M spent for these DLCs and I can't see them making it back! congratulations to T2 CEO for finally realizing this stupid mistake! no wonder T2 loss a lot!

[RedPawn]

I guess this puts the, "Larger audience talk," to rest.

[vhero]

Would have sold a lot better on a console that's not a shooter lovers console. I think that exclusivity has come back to bite them in the ass now SE AND Take two are regretting going exclusive with MS for money. Didn't work out did it guys?

[immortal84]

these excellent DLCs aren't selling well.

[raztad]

I think T2 is blaming the wrong guy. People wait for years for the sequel of a good game to be released. The problem is that GTA4 was really boring and nobody cares about it anymore.

[immortal84]

No man, I disagree with you. GTA 4 was a good game, the game story and gameplay were great. But I don't think that GTA 4 is the best GTA game.

The Ballad of gay Tony is a blast to play. You must try it.

[raztad]

@inmortal

I was talking about GTA4 the main game. GTA4 was the FIRST game I got for my PS3. Huge letdown. I dont know why but I was totally bored midway in the game, couldnt finish it. I think my point is still valid. If game was really awesome, the expansions would had sold better due to higher expectations/hype.

I have heard a lot of good things about both expansions, lets see if I can try them at some point.

[rekonizakilla]

The first ever Gta I couldn't be arsed to complete.
I blame the driving physics and the boring plot. The problem is simple. James Earl Cash didn't even speak, let alone go bowling with his lonely smelly cousin, or down the pub with that rasta dude for a pint. It's not the sims, it's GTA.

[jeseth]

GTA4 was a step back from San Andreas. While Vice City was my favorite, there were serious advancements and features that were sadly left out of GTA4 and it brought the game down.

Not being able to buy property, customize cars (how awesome was cutsomizing a low rider with hydraulics and listening to west coast gangster rap? it was awesome), working out, getting fat/staying in shape, etc. The list goes on.

All GTA4 felt like was a stripped down version of San Andreas with better graphics.

As for the DLC, I think it just came out too far away from the release of GTA4. By the there were other really great games out and people probably just didn't want to revisit a year old game.

Hopefully the next GTA is better and the DLC comes in a more timely manner.

[reintype]

You would have thought that a game with a 98 on metacritic, it would stand the test of time and be called a "true classic". Unfortunately, GTA4 disappointed alot of people, me included. After the phenom that is San Andreas, GTA4 feels like a step in the wrong direction, and a huge letdown for fans of the series. That's why I think that alot of people have move-on, and could not be bothered to buy the DLCs. I myself along with my friends would not buy the DLC even if it came to the PS3, we are more interested in the new games that are coming.

Another, is that GTA4's DLC exclusivity also hurt it in terms of sales. According to a press release by Rockstar themselves, it sold relatively 50-50 on both consoles. By excluding the other side, GTA4 is effectively being sold to half its customers.

[Redempteur]

while this may be true , a lot of people enjoyed this enough to buy it on 360 .. and the same kind of people exist on ps3 ..yet they were ignored ...

Half the sales they should have done ..

[ActionBastard]

When the GTA4 DLC was announced, it was "the end of Sony". Maybe it's the end of MS/R* deals...

[deshon09]

the dlc at a friend house it good but just like gta4 it gets old fast not to say it not good but the hype wore off a long time ago for the dlc

[chase167]

Take Two
next time put it on both consoles

[JD_Shadow]

They still could with THIS. When hearing about these low sales, I could assume Rockstar COULD at least TRY to have it available for the PS3.

[Noctis Aftermath]

What so they can try to overcharge ps3 users?
I say keep it 360 exclusive, i'd rather spend my money on red dead redemption.

[alaa]

considering the low price for these DLCs and the Stories from Liberty City disc, I think they will have good legs when it comes to sales.

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

;-D

[robotnik]

Thanks for betatest this for us, bots.

[crck]

I think GTA as a franchise may be crumbling. Poor sales of the DLC and Chinatown Wars on both handhelds is a pretty good indication of this. There was a time when anything with GTA in the name sold 2 million minimum.

[Noctis Aftermath]

The problem with Chinatown wars is that it went back to the classic gta style from the psone era and almost no one wants to play that after they played GTA ps2/ps3 style.

[rawd]

Hey I would have bought it for PS3, since I loved GTA4 so much. But my money went to other games. Sorry boys

[Pennywise]

I blame the media for what has happened to GTA. Well, its R*'s fault for making a stale base game... but the media have to take blame for duping us customers into thinking it was a fun experience. I found the game very bland and repetitive. It didn't have the charm of the old GTA's but yet they all gave it 10's. They lied to us and we bought it up. So maybe the DLC's are amazing, but I don't believe a word these sites say for games like GTA, COD and all the other over hyped garbage out there.

[menoyou]

maybe its because theyre GAY

[wxer]

bu bu buh
it well sellz teh milliooooonzzzzz !1!!!11
the microsoft well get teh money bsckzzz
itz okay it iz teh old PPLZ well by it

looooooooooooooooooool

HAHAHAHAHAH
thanks for those 50 millon MS
im sure that AGENT will look soooooo gooood

[Rocco Siffredi]

liberty city stories already sold 850k... on the DVD release

how much did the DLCs sold on xbox live?? i believe around 300-400k each

[Karooo]

oh lol :P

The sales were not impressive but pretty decent.

[Assassin Creed]

Take Two boss explains the lackluster sales of GTA 4 DLCs:IT FLOPD HARD.

THE END.

[Oldsnake007]

WFT are you smoking??

It didnt even reached 200 k yet lol

anyway, this opens the path for a ps3 release

[divideby0]

guess he didnt pay attention to the net, I as many said this would be a fail.....

GT4 was so overrated..another game which got high marks out of popularity, not because it was deserving of it

MS will eventually learn...not to toss $$$ away....
I cant imagine what they are paying to keep MassEffect off the PS3...lol

[emk2004]

it was great but its the same thing every game im never buying another gta.

[Whoooop]

Well I'm playing Lost and Damned right now and it's fun as hell...

I'm enjoying the story a lot and according to almost everybody that played both episodes, Gay Tony is even better.

Why it didn't sell?? Maybe because it didn't have the hype GTA4 had or maybe because some people got dissapointed with the lack of usual freedom.

I enjoyed GTA4 a lot though.

[TABSF]

Release the DLC on Games for Windows Live and PlayStation Network then you will see the money return.

[tripewire]

doubt it. I sold my copy when I heard the dlc wasn't coming to PS3 and there is no way I'd rebuy the game just for that. I think you'd find alot of people in the same boat.

[Ares84PS3]

I remember when these where announced to be exclusive to the 360 everyone said that the PS3 is done. Well....that's not what happend. Maybe release the DLC on PS3 as well to make up for the loss??

[Troll_Police]

I don't think M$ made that $50 million back with these piss poor sales. That $50 million should have went to fund a much needed 1st party exclusive.

[Doc Sony]

Yeah, instead R* is making a brand new exclusive on PS3 for free, no need to pay 50 million.

[Troll_Police]

Indeed, Agent will sell much more than this GTA4 DLC.

[BWS1982]

remember the massive layoffs at MS? Thousands lost their jobs, was it, last year? It was crap, I was totally baffled how months prior to it happening, the spammed 50 mill off to some DLC, and then were laying of thousands of people before the holidays (If I recall)...Great move M$...Nice to protect your own, even better to protect yourselves or naive predictions.

[2-oj]

No surprise, the bots don't buy games only watch DVDs.

[LuHawk22]

yo momma watches dvds after she gets bent over

[eagle21]

360 owners don't buy games. :)

[bjornbear]

thats wrong.

360 only* owners only buy FPS's ;)

[bozebo]

lol ^_^

lemme see the 360 games ive had... bioshock, halo 3, cod4, mass effect, odst, call of juarez, ninja gaiden 2, gta4, fable 2, lost odyssey... almost correct lol. if i had a ps3 i would have er... mgs4 and gta4 (i rarely buy dlc) - sorry its true, theres nothing wrong with the console its just that bioshock was on xbox first, all my cod4 friends palyed on the xbox, xbox has halo games and lost odyssey (aka final fantasy 13), fable 2 was bad... ninja gaiden 2 was good but mreh, call of juarez was bad, cod4 is better on pc, bioshock is better on pc, mass effect is better on pc, halo games are great - the only real merit to an xbox.

hang on here anyway, yes xbox gamers ^should only^ buy shooters - those shooters being halo games. but yeah, pc ftw - far more shooters ^_^ so i dunno why the xbox has that stereotype lol.

[King Hippo]

It was to be expected.

[MaximusPrime]

bad timing to release that expansion pack.

anyway, well done to Sony for the awesome year!

[TABSF]

Well the Lost and the Damned DLC Achievements have been added to the Games For Windows version yet they have not been pulled it down in months

[bozebo]

the windows version is a fail port anyway :D
cant wait to get my 380GTX (or whatever they will call it) so I can play at an actual frame rate.

[Socomer 1979]

Go buy that gta4 dlc ! What are you trying to do? Delay AGENT?

[blue7xx7]

Yeah I agree with that guy the GTA4 DLC packages would have sold way more if they were released near the same time as GTA4 was but they released them way to late and not many people cared anymore.

[bozebo]

well in that case people would be offended that the content should have been in the game to start with, or that they could have spent more time on it - so it would be seen as a money grabbing attempt: which of course it was on the part of MS. However rockstart spent time making the dlc very good - an unusual thing for dlc... which meant less money for MS. yay!

your point is correct entirely for what matters, the reason i didnt get the dls is because it was too late - i couldnt be bothered with gta4 anymore. Now, if san andreas had dlc that long after launch it would have sold brilliantly - because it was actually a good game.

[keysy420]

thats what hurt the sales

[jalen247]

I guess the GTA DLC didn't work out like it was supposed to...huh?...Figures..

[Thoreau]

gta san andreas spoiled me. large city, numerous vehicles and weapons..... gta 4 is a step back in everything but graphics and the gps system navigator

[tripewire]

Sold my copy after about 2 weeks after I heard the DLC wasnt coming to PS3.

Probably lost a sale of each DLC component there. Im sure alot of PS3 owners felt the same.

Bad move.

[Whackedorange]

MS bought and financed theese two episodes of GTA so it was them who now are suffering losses on the dlc and not T2 cause they got the money to make it for MS.

Agent is a exclusive to PS3 and it will be very interesting to see if this will just be another exclusive flop for Sony cause most of their exclusive games this generation have been so far.

[electricshadow]

If they released this on the PS3, I would buy it day one. I loved GTA IV, but I'm not going to buy a 360 just to play the new episodes.

[Knightofelemia]

The fad for the game has worn off and the exclusive deals signed with Microsoft for the DLC has hurt them aswell. I go into Gamestop its the most traded in game I have seen for both PS3 and 360. If T2 wants to make a profit then i think it is time to release the DLC for the PS3 aswell and see what happenes from there this is why i hate exclisive deals when it comes to DLC on a multiplatform game it burts the developer and publisher in the end. Yes M$ check did look nice to them i bet but it hurt them in sales.

[Advari]

This is what happenes when M$ strokes a check for exclusives sales fall if they released the dlc the same time on both consoles sales would have been good. Look at Borderlands no exclusives there and sales are great for the dlc

[fuckitimout]

san andreas 2 where the f@ck are you? saints row 1 & 2 kills gta4 imo. ps. paula dean is hot!!!

[bjornbear]

that "exclusive DLC...still working for ya MS? =P

Nope..

[Official General]

I bought GTA 4 for my PS3 on first day lauch, pre-ordered. I'm a massive GTA fan and I was so excited and so looking forward to playing this game. But unfortunately like many, I felt GTA 4 was a major letdown and big dissappointment. And no before you 360 fanatics start on me, I'm not saying the game was rubbish or very boring to play, as it's still a very good game that's fun to play with stunning graphics and an interesting storyline. But aside from all of that, the bottom line is that GTA 4 simply failed to live up to it's huge expectations and both PS3 and 360 owners/fans know this. GTA 4 felt more like a step backwards than forwards. Most of the best features and contents from the previous titles were missing, the missions and activities were very limited in terms of variety which meant that the gameplay soon got very repetitive. You could'nt enter and explore all the buildings. There was just very little else to do once you completed the main storyline in the game. Most people who bought game felt it had little replay value to it, so many promptly sold the game after they completed it or got bored of it (an earlier article on here stated that 360 GTA 4 owners rapidly traded in their copies to Best Buy in large numbers). This meant that the GTA 4 fanbase had shrunk so much that huge sales for any forthcoming GTA 4 DLC were not looking optimistic to begin with. The general crticial failure of the original GTA 4 game alone was enough to ensure that any further episodic DLC was not going to sell well.

Secondly, Rockstar left the release of the DLC a little to late for it to have any kind of impact in sales or revival of interest in GTA 4 amongst the console gaming community. Nearly a year had gone by before the 360's first DLC for GTA 4 was released. By that time so many gamers had lost interest in GTA 4 that the Lost and Damned came and went by with very little hype or anyone taking notice. The same situation has appeared to be the same with the Ballad of Gay Tony. Plus the episodic content mostly just consisted of new characters and new missions, not much else to regenerate any kind of interest. No missing or new features were added apart from weapons and vehicles. Had Rockstar released these two DLC instalments soon after the main GTA 4 game's release, then just maybe things might have been different - but the long delay just hammered another nail in the coffin.

Maybe Rockstar would have done better with sales had they not have been so greedy and sold out to Microsoft for a fat paycheck to make them exclusive DLC. If that had been the case, they at least could have gained alot more sales from it's PS3 fanbase, seeing as GTA 4 sales on both the PS3 and 360 platforms were more or less 50-50. But they chose to exclude half of their fanbase when they refused to develop any kind of DLC for PS3 owners, so therefore they lost out on more potentially profit-making sales. I would'nt have bought the DLC even if it came out for the PS3 anyway. I was so personally let down by the main GTA 4 game that no amount of any episodic DLC would have made me feel better - unless it included all the missing best bits and things Rockstar should have added. But in this case, it did not happen like that and Rockstar once again blew another opportunity to make things right again.

It's all a shame though, because GTA 4 easily could have been the best GTA game in the series ever. Had that been the case the DLC would have easily sold successfully, even on the 360 alone. It finally had the most realistic rendition of a New York-style city with stunning graphics and animation and a real-good storyline. But Rockstar took the game a step game backwards, cut out all the best features and fun elements in it's quest to make a more realistic, story-driven game and they made a BIG mistake. It's cost them the credibility of their fans and it's caused the failure of the exclusive DLC to sell well.

[Justin_bristoe]

man those bots must be embarrassed buy these lackluster sales must be the reason they will never get exclusive dlc again lol!

[MONOLITHICIDE]

lol, well do you you see em all in here, no, what only 2 lol

[Blow Out Your Brains]

Agent and Red Dead Redemption will be amazing

[Kevinmc333]

I never got into the other Grand Theft Auto games on the ps2, but I was blown away by Grand Theft Auto 4. It is the best video game I have ever played. Everything looked so real when I first played this game. The story was incredible. You can choose whether certain characters lived or died...which was an amazing experience for me. I loved the small selection of clothes throughout the stores. The explosions looked amazing...I just really cannot say enough positive things about the game. You got out so much out of the sixty dollars you spent for the game. Anybody who dislikes GTA4 should probably get professional help since clearly something is wrong with them.

[mrmikew2018]

I thought GTA 4 was pretty good, but that sucks for T2. Next time put on both systems

[Official General]

What failure? Come on now my friend. The GTA DLC episodes simply did not meet their commercial expectations and they did not sell as well as Take-Two and Microsoft would have liked. So therefore, it will be regarded by both companies as a relatively commerical failure. This is what the damn article is about, READ IT. The actual CEO himself of Take-Two, the company which publishes GTA 4 as you already know is the man saying all of this about the DLC episodes failing:

"Both we and Microsoft BELIEVED that there was a big market for GTA 4 episodic content and some factors affected their performance"

Note the past tense when he said "believed". That means he and Microsoft mis-judged the market for it. Now the DLC episodes may not have been a total complete failure, but it certainly failed in it's ultimate objective to achieve the huge sales expected of it and keep the interest and hype around GTA 4 continuing, which is why I've used the word RELATIVELY. I think you are fooling yourself if you think this DLC has long legs - GTA 4 is finished as far as the game's initial hype, popularity and demand goes. It appears that not too many gamers show any kind of major interest in this game anymore. You dont need to be in denial and defend the DLC just because you are a 360 fan/owner. Both a near equal amount of PS3 and 360 fans were left disappointed by the main GTA 4 game in general anyway.

I think this serves them right and Rockstar and Take-Two should next time:

* Make an excellent GTA title that's fun to play with everything in it.

* Next time release the DLC for BOTH consoles.

[bozebo]

obviously, they are just idiots. All proper gamers knew that from the start.

We want the content in the game already, why should we pay for something that would have been in it if dlc had never been invented. Though in this case the content was different from normal rubbish dlc, the content was actually good - but that doesnt detract from the fact that a lot of fans of the earlier gta games were dissapointed by a lot of the things gta4 did. Don't get me wrong it was an amazing game, it just felt like a gta clone due to the retarded feel of the controls - and the lack of some of the previous gta games' awesome type of content. Microsoft managed to ruin a great IP again - thanks.

[CARRIERHASARRIVED]

F*cking grammar nazis. Holy cow! I feel like I'm taking english class all over again.