DMeisterJ -
Maybe because the NDA clauses between R* and MS aren't allowing either to talk, until the game has launched, and R* has a slight idea as to what the content can and will be?
If Microsoft advanced R* $50m, when they were in a financially vunerable position, MS can and must secure some sort of very important DLC for the franchise. $50m is the price of Halo 3 + Lost Odyssey. So I'd tend to think that even if it was a "loan" until MS made a certain amount of cash back on the exclusive DLC, it'd still have to be compelling DLC for Microsoft to actually SPEND that kind of cash.
Because lets face it - what kind of content, for ANY game can return a $50m investment? Anyone care to name it?
Lets take a stroll down memory lane concerning X360 DLC achievement milestones:
Shivering Isles - $30.
No ironclad DLC numbers exist, but from my extrapolations, it brought in around 500,000 downloads at best.
Crackdown - $10
The pay-for content Crackdown brought in around 75,000 units within about 2 months of release.
IdolM@ster - Various $$
No actual figures for downloaded pieces, but IdolM@ster was #3 on Microsoft's all time list for DLC profits at $2.8m USD, after 9+ months on the market.
Rock Band - $2 per Song
Harmonix just stated that RB DLC has reached 8m pieces of DLC thus far, between X360 and PS3. Knowing the sales ratios, I would venture to say around 5-6m songs have been downloaded for Rock Band, putting revenue between $5m at the lowest, and $10m at the highest, with the likely sales being closer to the $10m.
Call of Duty 4 Map Pack - $10
1 million downloads in 9 days, bringing XBL to a crashing halt for a few days. Will sell more, but I bet a large percentage of users that want it, got it.
So, the DLC for the 360, in terms of revenue has been:
Shivering Isles ~ $15m USD
Call of Duty 4 ~ $10m USD
Rock Band ~ $8.5m USD
IdolM@ster ~ $2.9m USD
Crackdown ~ $1m USD
And Microsoft plans for the GTAIV DLC to bring $50m. Can anyone guess, under current market conditions, what kind of add-on content this might be? Even the best-downloaded items in history have made 1/4th to 1/5th of what Microsoft's goal would be for GTAIV. So what kind of content will it be? Costly content. Big content. We know that users are willing to pay $10 for maps, and minor addons, and $30 for a full-fledged expansion. So guess which one we'll likely get? $20-$30 add-on DLC that's ultra meaningful, in hopes that MS brings atleast 2m users around to DL it.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
