Exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV content for the Xbox 360 is so important to Microsoft that they are willing to pay $50 million to publisher Take Two. Reports emerging today are based on a transcript of a Take Two conference call between executives at the publisher and analysts.
“The first 25 [million] is for the first episodic content package that’s supposed to go out and that is in March of ’08… The second 25 will be for the second episodic, the episode, and that will be later in fiscal ’08” Take Two chief financial officer Lainie Goldstein is quoted as saying responding to a question on revenues relating to episodic content on Xbox 360.
Exclusive high profile games are highly valued by the console makers as they can are the central point in many gamers decision on what console to buy, but whether or not consumers will have to pay extra for the content is currently unclear.
After much confusion from both Microsoft and Take Two over the exclusive content first announced at the trade show E3 last year, a Take Two spokesperson confirmed on Friday to games website GamesIndustry.biz that "The Grand Theft Auto IV episodic content is exclusive to Xbox 360".
The Take Two conference call transcript can be found at the stock market opinion and analysis website seekingalpha.com.
Meanwhile, the Rockstar the games studio behind GTA are due to release the second teaser trailer for the GTA IV, ‘Looking for that special something’, in just over two weeks time on Thursday June 28. The game is set for release on October 19 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
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