Episodic content

Main article: Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

The cover art for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.

Two episodic packs for Grand Theft Auto IV have been released. These two episodes were first released separately on Xbox Live as downloadable content (DLC), requiring the original game to play. Following that in October 2009 they were released together as part of a standalone game calledGrand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City for the Xbox 360 that does not require the original Grand Theft Auto IV media to be playable.^[62] The first expansion is entitled The Lost and Damned, originally released on 17 February 2009. The second is entitled The Ballad of Gay Tony, released on 29 October 2009.^[63][64] Both episodes were released for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows on 13 April 2010^[65] in North America and on 16 April 2010^[65] in Europe.^[66]

Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development for Rockstar Games, has said that the episodes are experiments because they are not sure that there are enough users with access to online content on the Xbox 360.^[67] Take-Two Interactive's Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed that Microsoft was paying a total of $50 million for the first two episodes.^[68]

In January 2010 Rockstar announced that the DLC as well as Episodes From Liberty City would be made available for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows on 13 April 2010 in North America^[65][69] and 16 April 2010 in Europe.^[65]

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition, including the original Grand Theft Auto IV and its two episodic expansions, was listed on online stores^[70]before being confirmed by Rockstar. The compilation was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows on 26 October 2010 in North America, and 29 October in Europe.^[71]

[edit]The Lost and Damned

Main article: Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned

The first episode, titled The Lost and Damned, was released on Xbox Live on 17 February 2009.^[72] The episode features a new central character, Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City's biker gang The Lost, which was featured in several GTA IV missions. Dan Houser stated the episode shows "a different side of Liberty City".^[64]

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