Grand Theft Auto 4’s successful sales resurgence should really come as no major surprise considering that a great many believe the open world title to be one of the top games of the last generation on PS3 and Xbox 360, causing current-gen fans who have yet to experience GTA 4 to want to take it out for a spin on the Xbox One. Not to mention, there’s even more reason for GTA 4 newbies to want to try the game with the two DLC packs The Ballad of Gay Tony, as well as The Lost and The Damned, being backward compatible as well. As it happens, a lot of fans have ranked those specific add-ons among the best video game DLC expansions of all time.
For those unaware, this is far from the first instance of Xbox One’s backward compatible program causing an increase in sales for a game from the previous console generation. Interestingly enough, the very same phenomenon occurred when Rockstar Games’ open world western title, Red Dead Redemption, made its way onto Microsoft’s current system via backward compatibility, with the game’s Xbox 360 version raking in sales with its physical copies, as well as with digital iterations on the Xbox Store, causing sales to jump nearly 6000%.
Taking all of this into account, it’s obvious that even though some of Rockstar Games’ products like Grand Theft Auto 4 could be considered dated, loads of fans are still incredibly eager for the chance to replay or experience the company’s older titles for the first time on current hardware. This is likely due to the games being of a higher quality than Rockstar’s competition, even when the games are compared to releases from the contemporary era. So, hopefully, the studio will be able to continue this trend by following up the open world crime franchise’s fourth and fifth installments with a stellar entry in GTA 6.
Grand Theft Auto 4 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One via backward compatibility.
