GTA IV episodes were planned "from the beginning", says Rockstar

Rockstar's Imran Sarwar has said that GTA IV's downloadable episodes were "part of the plan from the beginning", and Niko's story was designed to "make him feel like a small part of a much larger world."

"Even at the end of [Niko's] story, he's not the king of the town by any means, " the associate producer told CVG. "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 last bit of DLC for the game, The Ballad of Gay Tony, is out now.