General Information

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Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (often shortened to TLAD) is the first of two episodic downloadable content packs for GTA IV. It was developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, and was released worldwide via the Xbox Live Marketplace on February 17th, 2009.

The Lost and Damned brought the total number of expansion packs for the Grand Theft Auto series to three. The previous two being GTA: London, 1969 (PC, Playstation) and GTA: London, 1961 (PC).

Release Dates

As part of Take Two Interactive's agreement with Microsoft, GTA IV: The Lost and Damned was initially only available on Xbox 360. Microsoft paid $50 million for this exclusivity deal, which includes the other episodic content pack, GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony, making TLAD worth $25 million in Microsoft's eyes.

At first TLAD was only available as a download from the Xbox Live Marketplace for 1600 Microsoft Points (roughly $20, or £14). However, on May 26th, 2009, it was announced that it would be available alongside The Ballad of Gay Tony on a standalone retail disc in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, which went on sale on October 22nd, 2009.

On January 29th, 2010, Rockstar Games announced that the expansions would become available to the Playstation 3 and PC on March 30th.

Lainie Goldstein, Take-Two Interactive's Chief Financial Officer, said that Microsoft payed the company $50 million for exclusivity rights to the first two episodes, making them worth $25 million a piece. It is believed that The Lost and Damned has raked in more than that initial $50 million in unit sales figures alone. It was later made known that this deal did not last forever as the PS3 and PC releases were annouced.

Rating

As it follows the same glorious cocktail recipe of previous GTA games, The Lost and Damned has been given a Mature or 18+ rating worldwide for its violent content, strong language, use of drugs and alcohol, and nudity(!).