Rockstar Delays Grand Theft Auto IV DLC

[WaltJay]

Shacknews (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53017) brings word that Rockstar has delayed DLC for GTA IV until Q1 fiscal 2009, which runs from November 1, 2008 through January 31, 2009.
According to the company, the Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content was pushed back "in order to provide a better balance in Take-Two's release schedule."

Little is known about two planned pieces of game-expanding content, though marketing materials refer to them as "episodes." Both were originally slated to debut before November 1, though the second pack was pushed into FY2009 late last year.

Even with the delay, it appears that the GTA IV DLC could still be part of the 360's holiday push.

[fitbabits]

If I was Microsoft I'd be asking for a portion of the $50 million back.

[LarsenNET]

Will anyone care by then? All the new titles will be out, Fallout 3, Bionic Commando, Gears of War 2, etc.

[DraggnKnucks]

They just want to keep the stock prices up so it makes it harder for EA to buy them out. As gamers we can understand this right? I don't think anyone besides EA wants Take Two to be bought out.

[oldjadedgamer]

How can it be delayed when a release date was never put in place in the first place?

Will anyone care by then? All the new titles will be out, Fallout 3, Bionic Commando, Gears of War 2, etc.

I'm going for my 100% and I'm about 90% now... and yes, I will still care and will get the DLC the day it's released.

[HeartbreakRidge]

If I was Microsoft I'd be asking for a portion of the $50 million back.

If Microsoft was smart, they wrote a schedule into the contract and linked it to money, and if not, I'd say MS is SOL.

[mkelehan]

Will anyone care by then? All the new titles will be out, Fallout 3, Bionic Commando, Gears of War 2, etc.

Yes. Many people will be getting it for the first time on Dec. 25, or soon after. The rest of us will have had just enough time off to be ready for a second dose.

[HeartbreakRidge]

Yes. Many people will be getting it for the first time on Dec. 25, or soon after. The rest of us will have had just enough time off to be ready for a second dose.

That's exactly what I'm thinking - this is now going to be part of the Christmas sales push aimed at converting GTA fans who haven't yet bought a console (or had it bought FOR them, for the younger set).

[fitbabits]

How can it be delayed when a release date was never put in place in the first place?

I believe it was tentatively scheduled for a Q3 2008 release. November would make it Q4.

[TrackZero]

So it'll be for the Christmas season, I thought that was already the case. No surprise to me.

[torrefaction]

Rather a delay and get quality than.....not.

[Zanzibar]

That's exactly what I'm thinking - this is now going to be part of the Christmas sales push aimed at converting GTA fans who haven't yet bought a console (or had it bought FOR them, for the younger set).

Can you say 'GTA4 X360 Bundle'?

[oldjadedgamer]

I believe it was tentatively scheduled for a Q3 2008 release. November would make it Q4.

Last I heard everyone just said "Fall" which November still falls into.

[Gorvi]

That seems rather foolish to push it into the holiday shopping season. Any DLC is going to be overshadowed by actual game releases.

[bapenguin]

That seems rather foolish to push it into the holiday shopping season. Any DLC is going to be overshadowed by actual game releases.

Of course - if the DLC was treated like a game release in itself...I'm just sayin. :)

[f1sh3r]

Will anyone care by then? All the new titles will be out, Fallout 3, Bionic Commando, Gears of War 2, etc.

not me. i'm already thinking about trading GTA4 in on bf:bad company. i'm plodding away at the side stuff, but hunting down another 150 pigeons is just hard for me to get excited about.

Rather a delay and get quality than.....not.

that's cool, if that's why it's delayed and not "we sold the shit outta this game, people will wait and in the meantime we'll push something else."

Of course - if the DLC was treated like a game release in itself...I'm just sayin. :)

i'll be interested to see the cost. if it's 1600 points (which for an "episode" it could easily be) then it'll have a harder time competing imho.

[PrivateJohn]

If the DLC is as big as a city, maybe the delay is worth it.
If it's just some addon mission and minor stuff, then....abit LOL for Microsoft.

[51|RandoM]

That seems rather foolish to push it into the holiday shopping season. Any DLC is going to be overshadowed by actual game releases.

Makes sense to me, the release schedule for AAA games is not exactly jam-packed this fall. Adding some great GTA DLC will be a very nice bullet point during the inevitable fall lineup listwarz.

After last year's perfect storm they've got their work cut out for them, particularly with increased production of the Wii and a PS3 that isn't on life support.

[karaokequeen3]

Seriously doubt it could be a entirely new city - surely something like file size constraints would stop this from happening? I still only have a 20GB HDD, for goodness sakes!

Not too bothered about the delay, there's plenty of other stuff to plough through, both old and upcoming!

[Roman]

Will anyone care by then? I will. I'm not even done with the main story yet and I want more stuff to do, more outfits, etc.

I love the Liberty City setting and I would rather have DLC - lots of it actually - then a sequel/expansion like Vice City or San Andreas.

[oldjadedgamer]

Seriously doubt it could be a entirely new city - surely something like file size constraints would stop this from happening? I still only have a 20GB HDD, for goodness sakes!

Two words for you: Shivering Isles

[mkelehan]

not me. i'm already thinking about trading GTA4 in on bf:bad company. i'm plodding away at the side stuff, but hunting down another 150 pigeons is just hard for me to get excited about.



that's cool, if that's why it's delayed and not "we sold the shit outta this game, people will wait and in the meantime we'll push something else."



i'll be interested to see the cost. if it's 1600 points (which for an "episode" it could easily be) then it'll have a harder time competing imho.
Considering that these episodes cost $25 million each, I don't see them being cheaper than 2400 points. They'll also likely have a ton of content.

[torrefaction]

that's cool, if that's why it's delayed and not "we sold the shit outta this game, people will wait and in the meantime we'll push something else."


What the hell else would Rockstar push? You realize Rockstar basically has been in the episodic business since post-GTA3, right? This business model suits their development practices perfectly

[f1sh3r]

What the hell else would Rockstar push? You realize Rockstar basically has been in the episodic business since post-GTA3, right? This business model suits their development practices perfectly

it said take two, not rockstar.

According to the company, the Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content was pushed back "in order to provide a better balance in Take-Two's release schedule."

Considering that these episodes cost $25 million each, I don't see them being cheaper than 2400 points. They'll also likely have a ton of content.

if i were take two i'd be worried about people having moved on by then. lots of games coming out and all. the longer it takes to come out, the more new games people will have to choose from, especially that time of year.

[51|RandoM]

Two words for you: Shivering Isles

Hopefully rockstar uses more than two voice actors in their expansion.

[torrefaction]

it said take two, not rockstar.

tl;dr

But seriously...that reeks of bullshit. It's understandable though, they're a business. One that isn't doing very well outside of Rockstar.

*Edit*

But people don't move on from GTA. Trust me, this game is going to have long legs.

[f1sh3r]

tl;dr

But seriously...that reeks of bullshit. It's understandable though, they're a business. One that isn't doing very well outside of Rockstar.

*Edit*

But people don't move on from GTA. Trust me, this game is going to have long legs.

i don't agree with it having long legs. the multiplayer isn't great, and there is only so much you can do in the single player. i've done the story once, halfway through a second play, done most of the side quests (the long ones i haven't done, like killing the pigeons, can't stay focused). so i dunno, we'll see i guess. i just think they'd be best off getting this out ASAP if all they are doing is balancing out the release schedule.

[Hugenex]

From the looks of it - The new release date fucks over "Saints Row 2" once again, which was pushed back to Fall from the original August release date that was the same release date of supposed GTA4 DLC. Maybe it's response to Saints mocking GTA trailer...

[violentp]

But people don't move on from GTA. Trust me, this game is going to have long legs.

I've moved on and I haven't even finished it. Then again, I never cared for the downloadable content.

[Micasa]

Wasn't this supposed to come out in November? How is this a delay then? People overreacting because they don't know what fiscal year 2009 means, even though it was explained in the original post?

[51|RandoM]

But people don't move on from GTA. Trust me, this game is going to have long legs.

I moved on. :)

[oldjadedgamer]

i don't agree with it having long legs. the multiplayer isn't great, and there is only so much you can do in the single player. i've done the story once, halfway through a second play, done most of the side quests (the long ones i haven't done, like killing the pigeons, can't stay focused). so i dunno, we'll see i guess. i just think they'd be best off getting this out ASAP if all they are doing is balancing out the release schedule.

It's already dropped down to #3 on the XBL playlist already even though those stats include single player hours spent playing the game. I really think it's due to the piss poor implantation of the multiplayer though. I've personally played through twice and am almost 100% and the lack of a good multiplayer will make me just go back to COD4 when I'm done.

[TheWookieeHasNoPants]

maybe now they'll fix Bully

[torrefaction]

I moved on. :)

You move on from everything. So does this whole community. We're hardly characteristic of the masses.

[oldjadedgamer]

You move on from everything. So does this whole community. We're hardly characteristic of the masses.

It's true, look at your XBL friends list. How many games have you seen remain constant on there? I've seen two since launch that always pop up, COD4 and Halo3. Most get a huge splurge in players their first few weeks then drop off and GTA4 hasn't been any different.

[WaltJay]

Of course - if the DLC was treated like a game release in itself...I'm just sayin. :)

They could release in on XBLM, and offer a 'card' version in-stores like they do with XBLA games. That way, the DLC can be gifted around the holiday season.

I think MS strategy around the DLC is to push people to XBL, so I don't think we'll be seeing a disc-version of this DLC intially. Maybe to maximize revenue, they'll offer it in-store too.

[f1sh3r]

maybe now they'll fix Bully

what's wrong with bully? i loved that game. 2nd game i've ever played to 100% achievement.

[asimonk]

If the delay is to add the same level of polish that the original had, fine by me. There is more than enough shit out at that time that a couple months won't matter a damn.

[morose]

It's all about stomping on Saints Row 2. And it's smart, because that game looks like a lot of fun and has a lot of the "ridiculousness" that GTA IV is lacking. I love GTA IV, but I do miss some of the over the top humor from Vice City. They would be well advised to release something to keep folks from jumping ship.

[51|RandoM]

They would be well advised to release something to keep folks from jumping ship.

I really don't understand this mentality.

You buy GTAIV, you play it, you have fun.

Then months later Saints Row comes out. You buy it and have fun too.

It isn't like I'm going to say, "Oh, rockstar, you've convinced me that GTAIV is the better game so I'm not going to buy SR, I'm going to buy another copy of GTAIV and build a shrine to it next to my bathtub Jesus."

Long story short, you don't jump ship, you ride as many of them as you want. If you start on one and then continue your voyage on another the previous ship does not suddenly lose the money you've already paid them.

Saints Row is different enough and does enough things better than GTAIV does that GTA IV can't stomp it, even if they wanted to.