1. Case study of development and key features
of GTA IV developed by Rockstar North

3. GTA IV Intro
• GENRE: Sand box style action adventure game
• Simultaneously released on PS3 and XBOX 360
on 29th
April 2008.

4. Background
• Game is set in redesigned
rendition of Liberty City, a
fictional city based heavily on
modern day New York City.
• Follows Niko Bellic, a war
veteran from an unspecified
country in Eastern Europe. He
comes to the United States in
search of the American Dream
but quickly becomes
entangled in a seedy
underworld of gangs, crime,
and corruption.

6. Continued…
• Like other games in the series, GTA IV is
composed of elements from driving games
and third-person shooters, and features
"open-world" gameplay that gives players
more control over their playing experience.

7. Development of game
• Grand Theft Auto IV sees a shift in the series
to a more realistic and detailed style and tone,
partly a result of the transition to consoles
which offered high-definition graphics and
the new and improved capabilities of such
consoles.

12. Commercial success
• First game of the series to be released on 7th
gen console.
• A major commercial and critical success, it
broke industry records with sales of around
3.7 million units on its first day of release and
grossing more than $500 million in revenue in
the first week, from an estimated 6 million
units sold worldwide.
• To date over 17 million copies have been sold

13. Gameplay
• The core gameplay consists of giving the player a
large, open environment in which to move
around.
• On foot, the player's character is capable of
walking, running, swimming, climbing and
jumping, as well as using weapons and basic
hand-to-hand combat.
• Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles,
including automobiles, boats, helicopters, and
motorcycles

14. Gameplay
• Open, non-linear environment allows players
to explore and choose how they wish to play
the game.
• Although storyline missions are necessary to
progress through the game and unlock certain
parts of the map and content, they are not
required, as players can complete them at
their own leisure. When not taking on a
storyline mission, players can free-roam,
giving them the ability to do activities.

15. Gameplay
• For the first time in the series, Grand Theft
Auto IV features "morality choices" at several
points throughout the game. The game has
two different endings, which are determined
by deciding which of the two missions to
complete. The player can choose between a
revenge mission or a deal mission, each leads
to a different ending.

16. Production of game
• Unlike previous games in the series, the voice
actors of Grand Theft Auto IV do not include
notable and high-profile celebrities, instead
opting for lesser known actors.

17. Production of game
• The Bullet physics engine along with the Euphoria
animation system causes Niko to react differently to every
bike crash, instead of using a predefined animation. Niko
can lose health or die if he crashes or smashes through the
windscreen of cars during high speed collisions. Unlike
previous games, vehicles will not explode if they are flipped
over, however they may catch fire and eventually explode
if the engine is repeatedly damaged via collisions, or if the
vehicle is damaged via firearms. Explosions can sometimes
render nearby vehicles unusable, or cause them to catch
fire. Car engines can also break down, rendering them
unable to start.

18. Production of the game
• If Niko is injured, he can recover health by
eating, drinking soda, sleeping, using medical
kits, using his mobile phone to call for
paramedics, calling one of his girlfriends for
medical advice, or using the services of a
prostitute.

19. Production of game
• GTA IV is the first console game in the series
to feature an online multiplayer mode, which
contains fifteen game types.

20. Multiplayer functions
• The multiplayer supports up to 16 players (32
players in the PC version)
• Team based gameplay modes include:
• Team Deathmatch, where 2–8 teams compete to accumulate
the most kills in a traditional deathmatch
• Team Mafiya Work, in which 2–8 teams compete to complete
contract work for the "mafia", such as escorting/killing targets
or stealing cars
• Team Car Jack City where 2–8 teams compete to steal cars
and earn money for keeping them undamaged.

22. Features
• Several high-profile DJs host the
various radio stations within the
game such as Iggy Pop and
Juliette Lewis.
• Katt Williams and Ricky Gervais
also have their likenesses and
comedy depicted in an in-game
comedy club.
• Numerous other comedians,
including Jim Norton, Patrice
Oneal, Rick Shapiro, and Robert
Kelly, appeared on the radio
and/or as characters in-game.

23. Features
• Like previous games in the Grand Theft Auto
series, Grand Theft Auto IV features a soundtrack
that can be heard through radio stations while
the player is in a vehicle. Liberty City is serviced
by 18 radio stations, three of which are talk
radio stations.
• The other stations feature music from a large
range of genres. There are notable inclusions to
the game's soundtrack, such as tracks from
Genesis, David Bowie, Bob Marley , The Who,
Queen, Black Sabbath, Nas, Kanye West, and
Barry White.
• The theme song (intro music) of Grand Theft
Auto IV is "Soviet Connection" composed by
Michael Hunter, who also composed the theme
for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

25. Features
• Following a partnership between Rockstar Games
and Amazon.com, players are able to purchase
real world MP3s through GTA IV's in-game
mobile phone.Players are able to mark radio
songs that they like by dialing ZIT-555-0100 on
Niko's phone. They will then receive a text
message providing the name of the song and the
artist. If a player is registered on Rockstar's
'Social Club' website he or she will also receive a
real world e-mail with a link to an Amazon.com
playlist where all of the player's marked songs
will be listed and available to purchase

26. Features
• The Rockstar Games Social Club is a web site
that displays the gameplay statistics of
registered users and feature competitions and
awards based on player activity within the
game.

27. Critical Reception
• Grand Theft Auto IV has received nearly universal
acclaim from video game critics. Ahead of its
worldwide release, most publications were not sent
copies of the game. Instead, reviewers had to play the
game on Rockstar premises or in booked hotel rooms
• The May 2008 issue of Official Xbox Magazine (UK)
published the first Grand Theft Auto IV review, giving
the game the maximum score of 10/10. The magazine
also stated that the game has an "amazingly realistic
world; stunning action set pieces; genuinely
engrossing storyline; hugely entertaining
multiplayer;"

28. Critical Reception
• Xbox World 360 gave the
game a 98% rating, the
highest it has ever given
to any game, mentioning
the game was
"everything we were
entitled to expect, and
yet somehow impossibly
more.”

29. UK Success
• United Kingdom the Xbox 360 version sold
514,000 copies and the PlayStation 3 version
sold 413,000, according to Chart-Track.
• Over 13 million units of Rockstar Games'
Grand Theft Auto IV have been shipped as of
31 January 2009.
• As of June 2010 17 millions copies have been
sold.

30. Episodic Content
• The Lost and the Damned
• The Ballad of Gay Tony
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes
From Liberty City is a stand
alone game with each of the
episode included listed above.

31. Further
developments
• APRIL 2010
• The Lost and Damned,
The Ballad of Gay Tony
and Grand Theft Auto:
Episodes from Liberty
City are released for
PC and PlayStation 3

32. Exam Advice
• Requires knowledge of the features of the
game.
• How the game uses next generation
technology in the game play.
• What is the game play experience for the
consumer.
• How does the game appeal to the consumer.

33. Past questions
• Discuss the ways in which media products
are produced and distributed to audiences
within a media area which you have studied
(January 2009)
• Discuss the issues raised by an institutions
need to target a specific audience within the
media industry you have studied. (Exemplar
question new spec)