June 18, 2007 • During a financial conference call, Take-Two Interactive announced that it would accept $50 million from Microsoft Corp. for two exclusive downloadable episodic content packages for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV. The first package is slated to become available via the Xbox Live Marketplace digital delivery service in March, 2008, with the second package installment to appear later in the year.

Impact: Getting Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 at the same time it is released for the PlayStation 3 was a key win for Microsoft.  $50 million for ambiguous downloadable content appearing months after the release is a big win for Take-Two.  It is also a positive sign for third party developers who now may be able to get the platform providers to open up their wallets for exclusives that don’t lock them into one platform.