Without doubt one of the biggest gaming series' of all time, Grand Theft Auto has always been a Playstation title. Even when the games started making an appearance on the Xbox, it was always a good several months after they hit the Sony console... well, not anymore...

As part of the pre-E3 press conferences, it was exclusively revealed that GTA4 will be available to 360 gamers on the exact same release date as the PS3

“Grand Theft Auto IV,” the next-generation console debut of the genre-defining “Grand Theft Auto” franchise, is expected to be in stores on Oct. 16, 2007, in North America and Oct. 19, 2007, in Europe.

“Few franchises have had the profound impact on our industry as ‘Grand Theft Auto,’” said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “Gamers can’t wait to play “Grand Theft Auto IV” in high definition on Xbox 360, and we couldn't be more excited to have the title on our platform from day one”

Separately, Microsoft and Rockstar Games are proud to announce a strategic alliance to provide exclusive episodic content for Xbox Live®, giving the community ever-expanding gameplay experiences that simply aren’t possible on other consoles.

“Through Xbox Live, we have a unique opportunity to reach out to our audience in new ways,” said Sam Houser, executive producer and founder of Rockstar Games. “This strategic alliance allows us to craft experiences that fully leverage the on-demand distribution power and sheer size of Xbox Live.”

The agreement to distribute exclusive Rockstar Games content via Xbox Live highlights the publishing community’s growing desire to feed gamers’ insatiable appetite for downloading new high-definition experiences and playing online. Since Xbox Live launched, fans have logged nearly 1.8 billion hours playing online and have downloaded more than 18 million pieces of content in just the past six months.