Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC, Chinatown Wars DS Possibly Delayed

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick let slip during a presentation in New York that both Grand Theft Auto 4's Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable content and Rockstar Leeds' Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (DS) are facing delays.

On the DLC front, MTV Multiplayer quoted Zelnick as saying, "It's close to being complete. That said, it may move into the second quarter." Take-Two's Q2 starts on February 1, which could place the DLC well beyond the fall 2008 target.

Zelnick's statement puts an even longer hypothetical delay on the DLC than that of producer Sam Houser, who expressed uncertainty this week whether the added content would reach the Xbox Live Marketplace this year. Currently, that DLC is expected in Take-Two's current quarter, which runs from November to January.

As for the Nintendo DS' first iteration in the hijacking-happy action series, Kotaku has Zelnick on the record with the following: "Chinatown Wars we've decided to move out of the first quarter in order to fill out a better launch and marketing window. The title will ship in the first half of our fiscal year."

The executive pegs Chinatown Wars for Take-Two's fiscal Q2, which means the drug-dealing handheld title is expected between February 1 and April 30, 2009.