There was no reason to think momentum would slow, but when Take Two Interactive Software released “The Lost and the Damned,” a $20 downloadable add-on to “GTA IV” via Xbox Live in February, things got real quiet.
To date, neither Microsoft nor Take Two has released sales numbers for the digital download, but analysts speculate the number to be at or below the 1 million mark.
That’s … ok, but it’s hardly the barnburner the industry was expecting.
To put it in perspective, when Activision released a digital add-on for “Call of Duty 4” in early April, it sold over 1 million copies in just nine days.
A second “GTA IV” downloadable add-on pack is coming—part of the $50 million exclusivity deal Microsoft signed with Take Two for the content.
But, to date, there has been a distinct lack of information from the companies – and a greater lack of buzz about the content from gamers.
Things didn’t get much better when Take Two (and developers Rockstar Games) released “Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars” for the Nintendo DS in March.
The game bombed – selling only 87,000 copies that month.
While Nintendo took the highly unusual step of defending the performance of a third-party publisher game after those numbers came out, some retailers don’t seem to be convinced.
“Chinatown Wars” carries a retail price of $34.99 – but Best Buy has cut the price nearly in half, and is currently selling it for $19.99.