This is pure speculation, so take it all with a grain of salt. It's just for fun and is only a possibility. But with that said, read on:
The possibility of Grand Theft Auto's downloadalbe content going cross platform all depends on the details of Microsoft and Rockstar's DLC (downloadable content) exclusivity deal, which of course, are under wraps. The questions to consider are the following:
1) Is this deal a "timed exclusive", meaning, does Microsoft have the rights to this add on content only temporarily, sticking Rockstar with a gag-order on speaking of any future plans for said content? (I.E. "Bioshock")
2) Does the deal ban Rockstar from creating any other type of downloadable content for other systems during the course of their deal? Meaning, can Rockstar create it's own exclusive DLC for Sony's machine as well? What would happen if Rockstar decided to do a separate set of episodes for the PS3 at the the same time (as unlikely scenario as this is).
3) Is the downloadable content exclusively meant to be exactly what it sounds like is it? Meaning, after all the episodes are released via XBox Live, can a packaged disc version of this content be sold at retail?
4) If Microsoft fails to meet a certain sales goal on the DLC in an alloted amount of time, do they lose their exclusivity?
These are all questions that could effect whether or not the DLC has the option to go cross-platform.
Here is what we do know. Please keep in mind the statistics below are real, but other than that there is plenty of estimation going on.
1) First week sales for GTA IV were 6 million copies (1), with an expected 15 million copies to be sold by the end of the year (2). Given the split between the two machines, and the larger install base on the XBox 360 due to it's one-year jump on the PS3, the current ratio is about exactly 58 (Xbox) / 42 (PS3), as cumulative sales for the game have been 5.8 million and 4.3 million, respectively (3). During GTAIV's first week, of the 6 million copies sold, 3.3 million were XBox 360. This also means that by the end of the year, if the 15 million mark is reached, we'll see about 8 million copies sold for XBox and about 6 million sold on PS3, give or take a million copies.
2) The next question is, how many users actually buy downloadable content? Well, lets look at Call of Duty 4, which has about the same amount of XBox users attached to it as GTAIV, and is wildly popular on XBox Live, currently with 6.3 million copies sold. (4) When COD4 released it's downloadable content for XBox 360, it set a new record for sales of DLC on XBox Live, selling over 1 million copies in it's first week of release.(5) At that time, the install base for the XBox 360 version of the game was at about 5.7 million (6), (ironically right about where the 360 GTAIV is now). This means that during the first 10 days of the DLC's release, roughly 1/6 customers bought the DLC.
If we compare this same 1/6 ratio to the expected 15 million copies that GTA will sell by the end of the year, and only 58% of those are for the XBox (based on the current Xbox 360 vs PS3 ratio), that leaves us with an expected 8.7 million copies of the game sold for 360. If 1/6 of those customers purchase the content in the first week like they did in the case of the comparable Call of Duty IV, that estimates that 1.45 million copies of the DLC will be sold during the first week. Of course additional copies will be sold in consecutive weeks, but sales will dwindle with each week forward. This is also assuming that the content were to be launched on December 31st ;).
Now here is the question: Is that enough to justify the exclusivity?
Here is where the big glimmer of hope comes in for PS3 users. The PSP saw a similar episode with two of it's releases "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories". These were - in essence - expansion packs of the original "GTA3" and "GTA Vice City". Virtually the same maps - with minor modifications - but a whole new story and adventure. The problem was, these two "exclusive" PSP titles, did not sell enough copies to "waste" them on the PSP, and eventually PS2 ports were released.
See, with GTA series being such a hot commodity, anything under 10 million sales is almost looked at like being a failure. "Liberty City Stories" sold 4.8 million on PSP, but it took the PS2 port to churn out another 3.2 million in sales, still not reaching that magic number. (7). It's sequel, "Vice City Stories", also failed to do anything significant, selling only 2.69 million on PSP, then .69 million on PS2 (ouch). (8) These numbers pale in comparison to the totals sales granddaddies GTA3 on PS2 (11 million) and GTA Vice City PS2 (14 million), not to mention the extra bit squeezed out of the original XBox double pack (2.2 million, ahem).
What this tells us is, despite the smaller PSP install base, even with the PS2's larger install base, not many went for the "expansion packs" that were "Liberty City Stories" and "Vice City Stories" - which is about what you can expect from the XBox DLC - simply a smaller adventure in the pre-existing city.
Where PS3 users will ultimately win, is with that 1/6 to 1/7 ratio. Based on the above statistics, we can assume that given the fact that the install base is cut in half by limiting the DLC to one system, the DLC will not reach it's full sales potential on the XBox 360 alone. The minute Rockstar and Microsoft's agreement is null and void, you can expect to see the DLC elsewhere, whether on the PSN, or collected as a budget $29.95 Blu-Ray disc for PS3. The truth of the matter is, Rockstar won't "allow" something with the GTA logo on it to "fail", and will do whatever it takes to milk it for all it's worth.
Now, if Microsoft's exclusivity deal with Rockstar for the DLC is 100% exclusive, owned by Microsoft until the aliens come, then the above numbers don't mean anything and speculation is worthless.
But, we all know that's not how these things work (ahem, Bioshock).
Sources:
(1) http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/05/08/gta.sales/index.html
(2) http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=grand+theft+auto+IV&console=®ion=All&developer=&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&boxart=Both&results=50&order=Hits
(3) http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=grand+theft+auto+iv
(4) http://www.vgchartz.com/games/game.php?id=7316®ion=All
(5) http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/867/867617p1.html
(6) http://www.vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?game1=Call%20of%20Duty%204:%20Modern%20Warfare%20-%20X360
(7) http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=liberty+city+stories
(8) http://www.vgchartz.com/games/index.php?name=vice+city+stories&console=®ion=All&developer=&publisher=&genre=&keyword=&boxart=Both&results=50&order=Hits
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
>> 1) Is this deal a "timed exclusive", meaning, does Microsoft have the rights to this add on content only temporarily, sticking Rockstar with a gag-order on speaking of any future plans for said content? (I.E. "Bioshock")<<
I have noticed that unless you are owned by the party that has made the console, no game is "married until death" to any one console for as long of a time as being told by a few people. Especially with Rockstar's games. We've seen in the past that ALL exclusive games that were from Rockstar eventually made their way to the other consoles after a certain period of time. This could be a sign of what you could be seeing in the very near future.
>>2) Does the deal ban Rockstar from creating any other type of downloadable content for other systems during the course of their deal? Meaning, can Rockstar create it's own exclusive DLC for Sony's machine as well? What would happen if Rockstar decided to do a separate set of episodes for the PS3 at the the same time (as unlikely scenario as this is).<<
Not as unlikely as you may expect. Remember what Jerrimino Barrera said in the April US PS Mag that they want this game to last for years. The way the X360 fanboys tried to disprove that statement was a very dismal, far-reaching way to disprove anything (that the PS Mag did not use a direct quote from Barrera to say to "expect similar DLC offerings for the PS3 version", thus saying that the notion was just "fanboy wishing"). Even the direct "last for years" quote would've never appeared in the magazine if they didn't have something planned to make that true.
Also, keep in mind that the whole issue of hands being tied came from the $50 million dollar price tag (which was shoved down our throats so much that we were sick of HEARING it), and then there was that GDC 08 Blogger Breakfast point that MS said something that could be exaggerated into such. On the latter point, it was then hung onto by fanboys who used it as a weapon even when it was something that was never proven true and that they were certain that was exactly what it meant, all without even considering that MS did get GTA4 facts backwards before. At no time did Rockstar confer that point. Remember, as well, that Take Two has rejected EA's proposal to buy out their company (at least to this point), so I doubt that a lesser "sell out" would take place.
In all of this, this is the most frustrating thing because you can never convince these select few otherwise, and they are extremely nasty on this point (anything I've said to this point has been met by many disagrees from these people). No matter what you say or what Rockstar said, they will always try to find a single point to disprove what you or they have said, and run with it like it was a killing point (as if to say "how dare you believe that"). I never have seen a developer of a game be attacked like that, much less in so many ways at so many times because they didn't like what they heard. They even went so far as saying "Rockstar will be sued by MS if they make a PS3 EC," as if they were daring Rockstar to try to do something, and thinking it would be a stab in the back if Rockstar made similar things for the PS3 (yet they celebrated a 360 FF13 version when it happened and mocked the PS3 owners what they said SE stabbed Sony in the back. How quickly they forgot). My question is, if Rockstar does make PS3 episodes, how that will hurt the 360 episodes of their tunnel visioned view that much? My answer: It doesn't, so why DO they care so much about that point?
Sorry, went off on a rant.
>> 3) Is the downloadable content exclusively meant to be exactly what it sounds like is it? Meaning, after all the episodes are released via XBox Live, can a packaged disc version of this content be sold at retail? <<
Shivering Isles came out on a disc, so I don't think this will be an issue on that point. That seems to be something that is very possible.
>> 4) If Microsoft fails to meet a certain sales goal on the DLC in an alloted amount of time, do they lose their exclusivity? <<
I never thought of this possibility, so nod to you for bringing this point up. There is a very good possibility that, given that there's so many games coming out during the time the DLC is slated to come out, coupled with the lackluster gamer reaction to the game that it has received from users on both platforms, that it could fail. At that point, there would be that possibility, but that would not necessarily mean that any PS3 episode would fair better because of the game not getting as much fan praise as it did critical praise. Now, does that mean that if the stuff COMES to the PS3 (or when it gets released) that no one will be curious? Of course not, but don't be surprised if it doesn't get received as well as one may thinks it should.
Rockstar is not one for saying too much about what will be in their games and likes to surprise people, but I think it hurt them this time with everyone putting out too much hype, speculation, and fanboy antics from people that should know better. Rockstar needs to learn that it's better if you just SAY what is in the game and stop allowing these guessing games to go on. We all, MS and the fanboys and those on other sides, to SHUT UP and LET THEM HYPE THE GAME! How that is not resonating in minds by now is beyond me.
To answer your question: Yes, you'll see GTA4 DLC/EC for the PS3.
Who cares? does anyone even still play GTAIV??
The game sucks.Its boring.I have the 360 version and even with achievements and live features,the game still sucks.Look,move on and get the other titles this year
Here's another question I brought up in another article that was posted about the DLC (and for some reason, this issue is beginning to get steam again, as there are a lot of articles about this lately): Could Rockstar pull a Square-Enix and make the exclusive DLC multiplatform? I have my reasons posted at http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-... (please read them. Contrary to popular belief, I really do feel as if there is some possibility of these things happening. I wouldn't post something like that otherwise).
that was a good read and some good points. GTA4 is dead to me, it was dead a week after I got it. The DLC lol, ill be playin gears 2 or LBP by then it wasn't worth it for M$. I know other people feel the same way.