Rockstar said they are unable to put a date on the release of the downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV."I'm not sure. It's going well. But we don’t know a date," said Dan Houser when asked by Variety whether the digital extras would be released this year.
"We hope to be announcing that in the next few weeks. We're still figuring out a few things. We're more focused on quality than dates, always have been. But the development is going really good. It's shaping up to be something we're very proud of. That was our goal," he added.Content will be exclusive to the Xbox 360, a fact that Microsoft has hyped as the distinguishing factor between its version and the identical game released for Sony's PlayStation 3. Microsoft are believed to have paid around $50 million for the exclusive rights to the content, with the company repeatedly stating it would be released this Autumn.
The company wants to manage expectations of what exactly the content will be, although the developer has not gone on record with any details of the Xbox 360 extras.
"We want to give people a rough idea so their expectations are roughly in line. We don't want them to imagine it's this enormous thing that it can never be," Dan said.The exec said that the company is unsure whether all territories will get the extra content at the same time, suggesting a slightly staggered release dependent on regional variations.
"Doing a big digital launch is something we've never done before. It's virgin territory, but at the same time, we feel very exposed because there's no case history. No one ever came out with major DLC for a major game like this before."
"It's new territory for everybody. We're making it up a little bit as we go along. That's always fun, but it makes you nervous.
"How to price it. Whether to release it day-and-date everywhere... Europe and the U.S. I'm sure will be day-and-date or within a few days, but I'm not sure about Japan. It's a small Xbox market...
"You even have to ask what time to release it at. We have some experience of doing through releasing our trailers. It can slow down sections of the 'Net. What works as a great time on the east coast may be late for Europe and too early for the west coast. Those are all things we wouldn’t normally think about," he confessed.
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