Lessons from Grand Theft Auto IV DLC
By Benjamin Opal
When a new video game follows up immediately with paid downloadable content, we tend to raise a skeptical eyebrow. You might ask, “Why wasn’t this stuff just included on the disc?” As nefarious as release-day or near-release DLC may seem, it may be the best strategy for getting you to buy. Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto, learned this the hard way.
In a conference call to investors, Take-Two chief executive Ben Feder said that the two additional episodes of Grand Theft Auto IV, released as downloadable content for the Xbox 360, didn’t sell as well as the company expected. Feder blamed the long delay between the main game’s April 2008 release and the arrival of the new content this year. The first additional episode, The Lost and the Damned, was released in February 2009, and a second episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony, launched in October. Take-Two wasn’t able to capitalize on the hype and hysteria that complements every major Grand Theft Auto launch. There are other factors to blame, including the $20 price tag for each episode, but it makes sense for publishers to strike while the iron’s hot. I wouldn’t be surprised if Take-Two and other publishers learn from this episode, no pun intended. [via Kotaku]
