Grand Theft Auto 5 launched in 2013, considering its incredible success, many fans have expected Rockstar Games to release story DLC for the game. Unfortunately, that has never happened to date, with Rockstar instead focusing its efforts on GTA 5's GTA Online mode. Likewise, Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018, and fans of the epic open world western have been keeping their fingers crossed for that game to get story DLC as well, only for no announcement to ever happen. Again, Rockstar has instead released new content for Red Dead Redemption 2's online component, Red Dead Online.

Many modern AAA games receive DLC as a given, yet fans seem especially anxious for Rockstar Games to release DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. For those wondering why that is, all they need to do is take a look at how Rockstar Games has handled DLC in the past. The DLC for some of its previous games, particularly Grand Theft Auto 4, seems to be the main reason why fans want DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

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Grand Theft Auto 4 received two major DLC expansions after its launch, which both went a long way in extending the game's life as well as delivering more quality open world gameplay for fans to sink their teeth into. Grand Theft Auto 4's DLC also had the benefit of introducing some characters that would later have roles in GTA 5, enriching the franchise's HD universe in the process. When one considers how well-received the GTA 4 DLC was, it's really no surprise that Rockstar Games fans want the company to release similar content for GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

The first Grand Theft Auto 4 single-player DLC was released in 2009 in the form of Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned. In this expansion, players were able to take on the role of the character Johnny Klebitz, a biker who had previously appeared in one of Grand Theft Auto 4's campaign missions. Essentially functioning as a shorter story campaign, The Lost and the Damned nevertheless made some major improvements on the GTA 4 formula to be an arguably better all-around experience.

Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned made a major quality of life improvement when compared to other games in the series by adding checkpoints to the missions. Prior to The Lost and the Damned, none of the Grand Theft Auto games utilized checkpoints, meaning failing a mission or dying sent players back to the very beginning. This quality of life improvement would be adopted by all future GTA games, establishing The Lost and the Damned as hugely important for the Grand Theft Auto franchise in general.

Besides making this important quality of life improvement, Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned also added substantial new content for players to check out. This included new activities, new entertainment in Liberty City to check out, new vehicles, new side quests, new mini-games, and more. It essentially gave Grand Theft Auto 4 a biker-themed makeover, adding content relating to that theme.

While out participating in Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned's various activities and missions, Johnny is often accompanied by members of his motorcycle gang. This is in stark contrast to Grand Theft Auto 4 protagonist Niko Bellic, who generally does missions alone in the base game. In any case, Johnny's relationship with his gang members can be influenced by how well they do on missions together, with Johnny able to spend time outside of missions with some of the gang's members as well.

Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned was mainly focused on expanding the GTA 4 single-player experience, but that didn't mean it was completely missing out on new multiplayer content. On the contrary, The Lost and the Damned also added a variety of new multiplayer match types for fans to check out, ensuring that it was an especially expansive DLC for the game.

The amount of effort Rockstar put into Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned made it feel like a completely new GTA experience, standing head and shoulders above most other games' DLC and offering a ton of value. Presumably, Rockstar would put the same amount of effort into DLC for GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, which is why fans want to see the company make similar DLC for those games. However, The Lost and the Damned is only half of the story.

Some months after the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and the Damned, Rockstar Games released yet another DLC for the game. Called The Ballad of Gay Tony, players take on the role of Luis Fernando Lopez, the titular Tony's bodyguard. Just as The Lost and the Damned made a major quality of life improvement by adding checkpoints, Ballad of Gay Tony introduced mission scores to the home console Grand Theft Auto games, alongside a slew of other content.

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While Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony features new missions for players to complete, it mostly focused on introducing new side activities for players to partake in. Two of the most notable are the fight club that Luis can participate in, as well as the BASE jumping mini-game. And like The Lost and the Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony players could also look forward to new match types for multiplayer as well.

With Grand Theft Auto 4: The Ballad of Gay Tony, Rockstar Games hit it out of the park again, delivering a critically-acclaimed expansion that gave players more of GTA 4 while also stood on its own as a genuinely high-quality product. The one-two punch of The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony firmly established Rockstar Games as one of the premiere developers when it came to single-player DLC, which is why it's a shame that the company still hasn't released similar content for GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2 to date.

Speaking of Red Dead Redemption, it also received some acclaimed DLC that has helped make fans hungry for Grand Theft Auto 5 and RDR2 DLC. Red Dead Redemption's post-launch support wasn't quite as impactful as that of GTA 4's, but it did get the Undead Nightmare DLC, adding zombies to the game's open world and giving fans a non-canon story to check out.

The Undead Nightmare DLC for Red Dead Redemption was hugely popular at the time, so it makes sense that fans want to see something similar for Red Dead Redemption 2. There have been rumors that Rockstar was planning an Undead Nightmare event for Red Dead Redemption 2 around Halloween, but those rumors have never amounted to anything and Rockstar itself has gone out of its way to deny them.

Still, the demand is clearly there for Undead Nightmare or some kind of single-player DLC for Red Dead Redemption 2, so here's hoping that it materializes at some point down the line. For now, though, Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 players can look forward to new online content at least, ranging from small-scale content drops to more substantial offerings like Grand Theft Auto Online's Cayo Perico Heist update that added an entirely new island to explore.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is out now for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

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