Rockstar: GTA DLC amounts to full game

By Robert Purchese Published 16 February, 2009

"There's nothing like it," apparently.

Rockstar development chief Jeronimo Barrera believes Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned packs a full game's worth of content and sets a new benchmark for downloads.

"There's nothing ever been out like it," Barrera told Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb podcast in the first of a two-part podcast interview (thanks, VG247).

"We've done a full game in my opinion, in terms of the production quality and the new gameplay mechanics. We've literally reached the maximum memory size that we can do for DLC with Microsoft.

"You're going to get a lot of game," he added, offering only "hours and hours" as a gameplay estimate.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned launches exclusively on Xbox 360 tomorrow for 1600 Microsoft Points (GBP 13.60 / EUR 19.20).

Players will become biker-gang boss Johnny Klebitz, whose story plays out separately to Niko Bellic's. The idea is that Liberty City houses all sorts of stories. And that, explained Barrera, is what sets The Lost and Damned apart.

"I find a lot of the time the stuff you can download to be more of an appendage to a game in terms of, you know, a new area opens up, or you can travel to another island, or something like that," he said.

"You know, it's cool, and it keep fans coming back, but [there's] nothing that's crossed story arcs and that's what we're trying to do, to push this, to deliver a new experience, and I think we've hit it right out of the ballpark."

Look out for our Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned review very soon.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (47) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • asphaltcowboy #1 3 years ago

    Phew, for a minute I thought the headline and strap line were suggesting its going to cost the same as a full game! Also, how will we start the DLC - new menu on the start screen?

  • X201 #2 3 years ago

    The contractual obligation.

  • Petulant_Radish #3 3 years ago

    How long is very soon? Very soon to me is 30 seconds, though to a whale it could be 15 years. Perception ruins vagueness, more precision please, like a German. Or is that just efficient?

  • Doctor_What #4 3 years ago

    In fairness, the Burnout DLC hasn't actually added that much to the game... Mostly more cars. The bikes were cool for a buzz around, but nothing that special.

  • kangarootoo #5 3 years ago

    "There's nothing ever been out like it"

    Holy crap. The grammar nazi in me made me cough tea through my nose on reading that, AND I WASN'T EVEN DRINKING TEA!!

  • dazrichards #6 3 years ago

    It's not going to be a whole new game although it does indeed sound a lot better than most DLCs

  • DFawkes #7 3 years ago

    Shivering Isles was pretty much a whole games worth. PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus was even sold as a seperate game on PS2. Samurai Warriors 2 Xtreme Legends is good enough to stand as a seperate game, though it is pretty much the same as SW2.

  • kangarootoo #8 3 years ago

    That is true. Shivering Isles got there first, and I'm pretty sure they described its content using actual sentences too.

  • Moribundman #9 3 years ago

    Shivering Isles got there first but priced itself a little highly first time round (2400?! GTFOOH!) relatively speaking, 1600 is cheap, whatever people have said.

    Also, the fact you could take "your guy/gal" to a new island to get more loot fitted the RPG scenario. It wouldn't necessarily work with GTA where the character is more or less pre-defined and his story arc is complete.

    Opening up new geography and a couple of new Niko missions to go with it would be very hollow. By contrast weaving a Pulp Fiction style trio of stories together and bringing new music/tv/internet, new weapons AND a whole bunch of new vehicles to use in the missions, multiplayer and minigames for each chapter is extremely generous!

  • Moribundman #10 3 years ago

    Oh and yeah, "very soon"?

    I assume we are talking an embargo here. Do we get to see your thoughts on this tonight or after half of us have already bought it tomorrow?

  • Marshall2008 #11 3 years ago

    I think this is the way GTA games should go. Rockstar spent a lot of time and effort building Liberty City and they should use the city again and again for future chapters beyond the 2 additional chapters for the 360.

    They could easily create a chapter (or even a Trilogy) based in the 70's and re-skin the city / peds and add retro cars weapons and radio stations. Or even an apocalyptic zombie chapter where the city is re-skinned in ruins etc.

    These chapters take the pressure of creating a GTA V off of them whilst maintaining a revenue stream. They would be able to release a special edition of GTA IV with the Lost and Damned already on the disc for those without Xbox Live or in regions where Live is not yet available. This will enable Rockstar to work on GTA V in the background.

  • asphaltcowboy #12 3 years ago

    "Do we get to see your thoughts on this tonight or after half of us have already bought it tomorrow? "

    Here's a thought... wait to see what they think of it first and then buy it?
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/09 @ 16:31

  • DoctorZoidberg #13 3 years ago

    I wish they had put the time and money into fixing GTA:4.

    I won't touch it again after it broke twice late on in my game.

    I hope people enjoy it tough, £14 is a lot of wonga for DLC imo.

  • Moribundman #14 3 years ago

    The thing I do wonder about is whether this "exclusivity" is indeed to be permenant or just a "period of exclusivity" (in the same way GTAIV itself was announced only for the consoles and it was an unsurprising surprise when they eventually got around to bringing it out on the PC...

    Will we end up with another Bioshock situation?

    The achievement in GTA at the museum, where the three characters from each chapter meet is called "Impossible Trinity". It's interesting to see they kept that name as well as the Trophy in the PS3 version, even though on its own it doesn't really mean much in the context of the main game (unless you appreciate economics-based jokes).

    Ah who cares. I'll have finished playing both of these huge expansions a good long while before there's a hope in hell of any PS3 release... :-P

  • RedPanda #15 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Skooch #16 3 years ago

    Bought some more points at the weekend specifically for this DLC - bring it on!

  • Moribundman #17 3 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy: I've seen enough to know it's worth a paltry £14 (come on guys, you've probably spent that much on some crap on arcade in the past, and this is clearly not crap). My reason for reading the review would merely be to see *how* worth it... I am just quite keen to see what EG think when the gag is removed.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/09 @ 16:48

  • miiiguel #18 3 years ago

    Took a day off for this!

  • sneetch #19 3 years ago

    @Marshall2008
    I think this is the way GTA games should go. Rockstar spent a lot of time and effort building Liberty City and they should use the city again and again for future chapters beyond the 2 additional chapters for the 360.

    They could easily create a chapter (or even a Trilogy) based in the 70's and re-skin the city / peds and add retro cars weapons and radio stations. Or even an apocalyptic zombie chapter where the city is re-skinned in ruins etc.

    /Screech to a halt

    I would like to place an order for your upcoming GTA IV expansion. Do you accept money? :)

    I can't get enough of undead apocalypses, this could be great, safe(ish) during the day but you don't want to go out there at night.

  • imamazed #20 3 years ago

    What time will it be released?

  • ZuluHero #21 3 years ago

    well its almost the price of a full game isn't it - so i should bloody hope so...

    ;)

  • brappbrap #22 3 years ago

    His name is... Jeronimo

    *stifles laughter*

  • paulf #23 3 years ago

    you might as well buy it before the review cause its gonna get a 10 anyway ;)

  • The_Inquisitor #24 3 years ago

    What time will it be released?

    Some time tomorrow. ;-) joke. I'd like to know too, but since I'll be at work, it doesn't matter much. Unless I leave my Xbox on all day and remote download it. But I'll probably finish off the Polar Bears by doing that.

  • RedPanda #25 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Moribundman #26 3 years ago

    @Brappbrap Yeah, but the man has a helluvva beard! ;-) Check out the preview interview on Gametrailers.

    @The_Inquisitor I plan to do exactly that. Was a teensy, weensy bit worried about RROD baiting leaving it on all day, but I reckon the box is positioned close enough to a poorly insulated French window that I don't need to worry!

  • Rash' #27 3 years ago

    it'll be interesting to see if that $50 million was worth it... certainly didn't swing sales in their favour.

    :)

  • miiiguel #28 3 years ago

    True, I think it would have sold more anyway, even without the exclusive DLC. I'm glad they did spend the money though, as I couldn't care less if they spend 5, 50 or 500 million, I just want to enjoy the DLC.

  • alpha-0ne #29 3 years ago

    "I hope people enjoy it tough, £14 is a lot of wonga for DLC imo. "

    GTA4 Expansion or 7 sackboy costumes let me think...
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/09 @ 17:34

  • metalangel #30 3 years ago

    I get the feeling this is going to be more of a GTA London moment. I finished that in a day. Frankly, I am getting plenty of enjoyment from exploring the city (there is so much to it that you will likely never see) with a Flying Rats location map and don't feel the need for more missions.

  • Rash' #31 3 years ago

    hmmm, 14 for GTA DLC or 12 for Wipeout HD?

    @ alpha

  • miiiguel #32 3 years ago

    I can't have a serious argument on pricing, I bought Fireplace.

  • Moribundman #33 3 years ago

    Def not a London:1969 type expansion. From what I've seen the multiplayer modes would justify an 800MSP download alone, and the $50M has clearly gone into essentially the production values of a full game with all the new content.

    At the end of the day, having recently played through GTAIV again, I am looking forward to seeing the same story through different eyes. This storytelling technique of criss-crossing and sharing characters makes you feel like what you think you know about GTA is really just scratching the surface. A shame, I guess, that we'll have to wait 6-9 months to see what happens to Luis Lopez!

  • Petulant_Radish #34 3 years ago

    I’d much rather a GTA expansion than Wipeout HD, I find it so dull!

  • makeamazing #35 3 years ago

    I thought originally they were saying it was 1/3rd of a game, now its changed to a full game... PR on overdrive I guess :)

  • X #36 3 years ago

    If every one is a new game (cough) then I guess we will have to get used to 1600+ point updates.
    Edited by 1 at 16/02/09 @ 18:53

  • hiddenranbir #37 3 years ago

    A full game DLC?

    So basically it is an expansion pack.

    DLC needs to get out of our vocabulary asap.

  • GamesConnoisseur #38 3 years ago

    GTAIV DLC OR Wipeout HD?!

    Hey, man why not both?! I will get both but suspect I ll get more short term fun from GTAIV and perhaps the more memorable too.

    Wipeout HD is a great racing game but hey I got jaded and needed a break from buzzing through the loop the loops and watching the Death Race DVD recently reminded me of getting the weapons in Wipeout...

    Yes I m just gonna enjoy both in their own terms!

  • konniehuqfan #39 3 years ago

    what is the maximum memory size for dlc?

  • Rash' #40 3 years ago

    GamesConnoisseur, I would enjoy both too, if it wasn't for the fact that I've yet to finish the original release... well that and the fact that I only have the PS3 version. ;o)

  • kangarootoo #41 3 years ago

    @Moribundman

    I had forgotten that Shivering Isles was that pricey. Point taken.

  • el_pollo_diablo #42 3 years ago

    "We've literally reached the maximum memory size that we can do for DLC with Microsoft."

    - Well thats a bit of a back-handed compliment isn't it?

    And "launches exclusively on 360" sounds like a confirmed PS3 / PC future release to me, but what do I know?

  • mkreku #43 3 years ago

    I've been trying to play some more GTA4 recently, but.. it's just not fun after the completion of the main story. Where are my silly races?! (There are only 10 different ones, in cars, in the entire game!!). I want to race go-carts again! And bikes! And motorboats! And helicopters! And biplanes! Everything is gone. Only cars going round the same indistinguishable streets. Boo!

    And why can't I own property anymore? Why are there no side-quests anymore? I know there are some random blue NPC's sometimes, but last night I picked up this girl.. and all she wanted was a ride for two blocks! How much fun is that?!

    The city is massive, but there's nothing to find, nothing to see. The occasional jump (which randomly tells you you didn't do enough when you jump them and gives you NO CLUE as to what you did wrong! I've actually jumped too far in a few of them), the occasional pigeon, nothing else.

    Personally I wish they had skipped the "realistic" physics and "realistic" graphics and made the game fun instead.

  • chrispontius #44 3 years ago

    £14 for a download + extra if you need to go buy the game for it like all ps3 users that didnt get the 360 version , happened with fallout 3 and oblivion will the ps3 users of the world ever stop getting screwed over . im sick of all this exclusive to that console crap make the damm game give out the downloads to all and everyone is happy the money will still be made for the companies regardless more if it got both consoles. really everyone should boycott these downloads and screw the companies in turn forcing them to level the playing field . also when you think about it when these games like gts4 and falllout 3 are released do the makers hold back on content so that people have to get the downloads forcing them to buy what really is a game that costs nearly £60 .

    BRING OUT THE FULL GAME THE FIRST TIME AND STOP SCREWING PEOPLE (ROCKSTAR, BETHESDA TO NAME A FEW )

  • SomaticSense #45 3 years ago

    Nothing else like it? Really?

    Well, aside from the ones already mentioned here, there was also Tomb Raider Anniversary as well, which was released as DLC for Legends before seeing a full retail release.

    Nice that Rockstar are so busy beavering away on such AAA quality products that theyare oblivious to what else is going on in the game industry (would explain the lack of checkpoints as well in GTA4, incidentally), but is that really an excuse for such ignorance?
    Edited by 2 at 17/02/09 @ 12:13

  • sneetch #46 3 years ago

    @el_pollo_diablo
    - Well thats a bit of a back-handed compliment isn't it?

    And "launches exclusively on 360" sounds like a confirmed PS3 / PC future release to me, but what do I know?

    Aye, more baffling stuff from MS, I thought they'd removed the size limits on DLC but apparently not. Surely if they're afraid of the hosting costs then they'd be better off having a sliding size-to-cost scale rather than hard limits.

    That and the additional charge for having more than one disk in your game (which I'm assuming is in addition to the production cost, but might be wrong) are bizarre decisions to me.

    As for the exclusivity I hope to hell that it is timed and will be on PS3 and PC (I'm an Xbox owner but I hate these exclusive content deals) but I'm not sure, MS apparently paid millions for exclusivity.

  • Teamallstar #47 3 years ago

    Playstation 3 is soooo dead in Europe and US.

    Can't wait to start playing this.