In the early 2000s, Sony’s PlayStation reigned supreme in the gaming world. Though, the arrival of Microsoft’s Xbox sent ripples of concern through the company. To counter this emerging threat, Sony strategically secured exclusive rights to a game that woudl become a cultural phenomenon: Grand Theft Auto.
Chris Deering, the former head of PlayStation europe, recently shed light on this pivotal decision in an interview. “When we saw the Xbox coming, we were worried,” Deering admitted. “We know exclusivity is the name of the game in a lot of areas,such as sports on Sky TV. Just as Christmas was approaching, and the Xbox was launching, some of us went to our favorite third-party publishers and developers, and we asked them, ‘If you kept your next-gen game exclusive on PlayStation for two years, what special offer would you want?'”
One of those discussions led to a landmark deal with Take-Two, the developers behind the then-upcoming Grand Theft Auto 3. “One of the deals we made was to work with Take-Two on the next three Grand Theft Auto games,” Deering explained. “At the time, it wasn’t clear if Grand Theft Auto 3 would be as big as it is now because it had been a top-down game. That’s very lucky for us,actually,because they get discounts on the royalties they pay. These deals are not uncommon in industries like social media today.”
Consequently, Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas graced PlayStation 2 consoles as exclusives in the early 2000s, cementing the console’s dominance and shaping a generation of gamers.
What are your fondest memories of playing Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation 2? How do you think gaming history would have unfolded if Microsoft and Xbox had secured those coveted exclusivity rights?
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