GTA IV multiplayer to be 360 only

With the April release of Grand Theft Auto IV rapidly approaching, Microsoft has stepped up the format battle by re-stating that the online multiplayer component of the game will be Xbox 360 only.

The fresh news comes in a podcast on the blog of Microsoft’s Major Nelson, where Mattrick states: "GTA IV is an amazing piece of software and I’m really excited with its downloadable content and online multiplayer support. Again, that’s something that’s unique to 360.

"We think consumers are going to love that and it’s going to create, what I would describe again as the premium experience on our platform."

It has already been announced that a host of post-release downloadble content for the game will be available only on Xbox Live.