I realize that it is impossible to compare the quality of an expansion to GTA 4 (The Lost and Damned) to Killzone 2, but which ended up being the better investment?  I'm pretty sure both companies spent close to $50 million to get these projects done for their systems, so which one will make the most money?

I thought Microsoft had lent the money? I'm probably wrong.

Microsoft Lent the money. They will probably get repaid from the revenue generated by the DLC and then royalties afterwards.

Let's see how well the DLC sells , i'm not exactly sure how lucrative this will turn out to be.

K2 since we can now see that GTA4 did very little to move consoles on either system.

Sega With Shenmue 1 and 2 :)

IIRC, Microsoft gets the revenue of the DLC until they get the money back, so it's only a 'loan' once the DLC makes $50 million. (Or maybe they get a portion of the DLC money, in which case it would have to sell way more.)  If MS doesn't make the money back, it's not a loan ... unless I'm wrong.

MS put in a 50 M dollar investment into GTA - if the dlc sells they get their money back.

Sony put a 50 M dollar (??) investment into KZ2 - if it sells they get their money back.

and you have to call what MS did an investment, unlike a loan getting their money back is not a sure thing.  personally i think both companies will get returns on their investment but i'd take KZ2 over GTA dlc any day of the week from a gamer's perspective.

I agree with this.

However form the business perspective I think I'd take the MS approach. Remember, they have 2 DLC packs coming for GTA.

If the dlc doesn't make $50 million, they owe M$ a percentage of the difference.

Sony - $50 million
KZ2 campaign - 6 to 10 hours

MS - $50 million
L&D Campaign - 10 to 12 hours
Expension #2 - ??


As a gamer I would say MS!!!

Edited KZ2 campaig length