Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas launched as PlayStation 2 exclusives back in the day, and the deal to bring these games exclusively to the console was signed partially because Sony was worried about Xbox.
Speaking during an EGX London special session hosted by GamesIndustry's Christopher Dring, Chris Deering, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president up until the release of the PlayStation 3, commented on the many deals that made several third-party games PlayStation exclusives, saying that some of them, such as the Grand Theft Auto exclusivity deal, were signed partially as a reaction to Xbox. The company was worried when they saw the console coming, and they knew exclusivity was a big deal in other fields, so, as the first Xbox launch was approaching, they spoke with some of their favorite third-party developers and publishers, asking them if they would have liked to sign a special deal to keep their next-generation games PlayStation exclusives for two years. Take-Two was among the publishers that accepted the offer, which paid off in a very big way against expectations, as Grand Theft Auto wasn't as big as it is nowadays, with its first top-down entries not having exactly set the world on fire.
Besides commenting on the Grand Theft Auto exclusivity deal, other former Sony executives commented on other interesting facts about PlayStation's 30-year history, such as trade media skepticism of the PlayStation 2, the well-known PlayStation 3 development issues, London Studio complaining about the lack of a built-in camera for the PlayStation 4, and more. You can find more about these facts and other anecdotes here.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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