Microsoft/Engagdet
The competition between consoles is intense nowadays, and it has been like this for a long time, even more than two decades ago. Before the original Xbox console was released in November 2001, PlayStation executives sniffed the threats it could bring to the PlayStation 2 and thus took action to try to keep their status stable.
Recently, Chris Deering, the former president of PlayStation Europe, shared how they felt towards the new competitor in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, straightforwardly saying: “We were worried when we saw Xbox coming.”
The team couldn’t just sit there when there was a newcomer trying to take away the market share. Their solution at that time was signing exclusive deals. “We knew exclusivity was the name of the game in a lot of fields, like Sky TV with sports.” The actions need to be taken as soon as possible, as the launch of Xbox was imminent:
“Just as Christmas was approaching when Xbox would launch, a few of us went out to our favourite third-party publishers and developers, and we asked them, ‘How would you like a special deal if you keep your next generation game on PlayStation exclusive for a two-year period?’ And one of the deals we made was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games. ”
Take-Two
Obviously, this deal brought mutual benefit for both parties, as Deering admitted: “It was very lucky for us and actually lucky for them, because they got a discount on the royalty they paid. Those deals aren’t uncommon in industries with platforms. Including today with things like social media.”
The “next three Grand Theft Auto games” were GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas, all of which have been huge and helped built a reputation for the franchise that could rock the whole industry in nowadays. “At the time, it wasn’t clear that Grand Theft Auto 3 was going to be as huge as it was, because it used to be a top down game,” Deering said.
Read the interview on GamesIndustry.biz here and don’t forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
