Losing GTA’s Timed Exclusivity
On May 9th, at approximately 3:30pm millions of Sony fans the world over let out a gut wrenching scream as the Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Peter Moore, slowly raised his left sleeve to reveal the big guns, a tattoo proudly proclaiming that Grand Theft Auto IV would be arriving on the same day and date on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
But does Microsoft getting GTA on the same day really matter all that much? Yes, and No, here’s why.
Get the lowdown on why losing GTA exclusivity might not be so much of a blow to Sony and the PS3 after the jump!
On May 9th, at approximately 3:30pm millions of Sony fans the world over let out a gut wrenching scream as the Vice President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Peter Moore, slowly raised his left sleeve to reveal the big guns, a tattoo proudly proclaiming that Grand Theft Auto IV would be arriving on the same day and date on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
But does Microsoft getting GTA on the same day really matter all that much? Yes, and No, here’s why.
Some would argue that the Grand Theft Auto franchise has been kind of tired for a while now, the formula has changed very little since Grand Theft Auto III first rocked the world five years ago… perhaps it’s time for something new. Very few third party franchises are able to sustain such high sales momentum and widespread popularity across a generational hardware leap. GTA III was the darling of the last generation and its popularity was partially due to the fact that it showed the potential of the 128 bit era, it was fresh, new and innovative. It did what Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VII did for the PlayStation before it, demonstrated the potential and power of the console, it sold systems.
That’s why at the beginning of a new hardware cycle we get so many fresh new IP’s, everyone’s scrambling to hit on that hot new killer app, the next big system seller. Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy were that for the PS1, and while Final Fantasy has been able to keep the momentum going Tomb Raider hasn’t had such luck. The shelves are littered with generational has beens, the Streetfighter’s, the Mortal Kombat’s, the aforementioned Tomb Raider’s. Don’t misunderstand me, these titles still sell pretty well (otherwise why still make them?) but they’re sheen has worn off, they no longer represent the pinnacle of achievement for whatever console they first graced.
It’s almost certain that before E3 Microsoft, Sony and Take 2, (publishers of the Grand Theft Auto series of games) were engaged in a complex dance of offer and counter offer. Microsoft likely offered Rockstar a tasty sum for day and date arrival of GTA on the the Xbox 360, and Sony, either unable to raise the stakes or simply realising that GTA had probably had its day in the sun, passed.
It’s important to note at this point that Sony gamers haven’t really lost anything for all Microsoft’s boasting, if anything gamers everywhere have gained from the new arrangement. Not only will Xbox gamers get GTA at the same time, but PlayStation gamers still get Grand Theft Auto 4 right when they were supposed to. The good thing is that this situation forces Sony to come up with another killer app to take the space left void by GTA.
As mentioned earlier it’s questionable whether GTA really has anything to offer the next generation. At the time of its arrival Rockstar’s formula was ambitious, innovative and fresh, but now every studio is either making a GTA clone or incorporating free roaming GTA style elements in their titles. Not to knock Rockstar’s creativity, but they’ve really got to come up with something truly special (again) to stand out of the pack. This doesn’t disregard the fact that GTA will sell copies like hot cakes on name alone, of course it will, but its brand strength might have been diluted by the simple fact that it’s more available now. That’s why exclusives are so special… because they’re exclusive.
I leave you with some telling words from Sony Computer Entertainment’s Vice President of Game Development, Phil Harrison:
“GTA has been incredibly important to the PlayStation 2 in the PlayStation 2 era, perhaps in the same way that Tomb Raider had an impact in the PlayStation 1 era and maybe there’s something else in the PlayStation 3 era.“
So what do you guys think, will going multiplatform dilute GTA’s brand strength, and is the loss of such a massive system seller as damaging to the PS3 as it seems at first?