While we all knew that Rockstar had another downloadable Grand Theft Auto IV episode in the works the popular opinion was that Microsoft would announce it at their press conference at the upcoming E3. Instead Rockstar chose yesterday to announce their next episode, which is titled The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Moving away from The Lost and Damned’s seedy biker gang The Ballad of Gay Tony focuses on the glitzy “high-end night life” of Liberty City. You will play the role of Luis Lopez, who does the dirty work for the impresario Tony “Gay Tony” Prince.

Rockstar says that “players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.”

The next episode is slated for an autumn release and will be priced at 1600 Microsoft points through Xbox Live.

I have yet to play The Lost and Damned, but that’s mainly due to sheer laziness because Xbox Live doesn’t accept my credit card so I have to buy those points cards through Amazon (I’ve come across a few instant-by-email sites but I’m yet to try them, apart from one that I use for my monthly subscriptions).