Episodes Were Always Planned For GTA IV

Rockstar’s Imran Sarwar has said downloadable episodes were always planned for Grand Theft Auto IV and Niko's story was designed to make him feel like a small part of a much bigger world:

“Even at the end of [Niko's] story, he’s not the king of the town by any means. The idea was to use the episodes to reveal the rest of that world, to show some of the characters and events that were invisible to Niko and yet still had a bearing on events in his life."

“I think if we had [put all on one disc] it would have been impossible to focus on each separate aspect of gameplay properly, the stories and the gameplay are inextricably linked."

“We’ve always maintained that Liberty City is the real star of these games, and what makes it truly amazing is that it’s so full of potential as an environment.”

The Ballad of Gay Tony was released this week for the Xbox 360.

Source: CVG