Is this a bad sign for GTAIV DLC?

[Bitmap Frogs]

greenmedic88 said:
The thing about the DLC is that Rock* still generates revenue by selling it through XBL, which is something EB or GS can't buy or flip used.

Even if people interested in the DLC buy a used copy, they're still going to have to buy the DLC off XBL.

If it works well enough, that may be a way for developers to circumvent significant sales losses to the secondary market in the future. If you figure that most of GS profits are generated through sales of used merch, those profits represent sales that were effectively taken away from new game sales, which are all that matter in determining the commercial success of any given game.

The only downside is that it does require a continued investment of time and development resources to support a game in such a manner.

If it only generates minimal revenue, then this isn't much of a profit generating solution so much as it is a form of fan service to the players who particularly enjoyed a game and don't want to wait another two years or more for the next release.

 

Selling empty boxes with a code inside is a brilliant idea: they get the visibility from retail, they don't piss off the brick'n mortar stores and they kill the used market sales.