GTA exclusivity deal on PS2 was made out of worry for Xbox competition

Former PlayStation Europe boss Chris Deering revealed in a recent interview that Sony secured exclusive deals with third-party developers to boost the appeal of the PlayStation 2 in the face of competition from Microsoft’s Xbox.

This strategy led to the launch of Grand Theft Auto III as a PS2 exclusive in 2001, just before the release of the Xbox. The game’s success paved the way for more successful sequels, all of which remained exclusive to the PS2 for a period of time.

Deering explained, “We knew exclusivity was important in many industries, so we approached third-party publishers to keep their next-gen games exclusive to PlayStation. One of these deals was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games.”

The agreement was made before the release of Grand Theft Auto III, and both Sony and Take-Two benefitted greatly from the exclusivity deal as the game became a massive success.

All three classic games have been remastered in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, available on various platforms including Windows PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.