The platform holder also claims that The Lost and Damned had, a week before its launch, saw a greater increase in active users over Xbox Live than any other downloadable content.

Rockstar’s The Lost and Damned launched on Feb 17, nearly a full year after the Western release of the publisher’s record-breaking GTA IV. The DLC is the first of two Xbox-exclusive add-ons that Microsoft reportedly paid some $50 million to acquire exclusive rights to.

It’s no surprise, then, that Microsoft is flaunting what success its investment has yielded. The firm stated that The Lost and Damned is “the highest reviewed downloadable content ever” and had “eclipsed first-day revenue for all previous downloadable content on Xbox Live”.

“The success of The Lost and Damned redefines what consumers expect from game add-ons,” says Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live. “Content like this is extending the lives of our favourite games and fundamentally changing the way we play.”

Microsoft has not yet stated if it expects a return on its $50 million investment, or if the GTA add-ons were always seen as loss-laders. So far Rockstar and Microsoft have kept quiet on the second downloadable title for GTA IV.