PlayStation 2's GTA exclusivity came because Sony was "worried when we saw Xbox coming" and "it wasn't clear that Grand Theft Auto 3 was going to be as huge as it was"

Sony had the incredible fortune of locking down three Grand Theft Auto exclusives on the PlayStation 2 - GTA 3, San Andreas, and Vice City - but a former executive at the console maker has revealed that the exclusivity deal was only signed because Sony was worried about Xbox's entry into the console wars.

Speaking to gamesindustry.biz, former Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Chris Deering shared several lesser-known stories about PlayStation history, including how the company felt about Microsoft's Xbox in the early 2000s. "We were worried when we saw Xbox coming," Deering said. "We knew exclusivity was the name of the game in a lot of fields, like Sky TV with sports. 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?'"

Deering remembered feeling lucky that "one of the deals we made was with Take-Two for the next three Grand Theft Auto games" because "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." GTA 3 went on to define an entire genre that's still going strong and turn the franchise into one of gaming's biggest names, but no one could have predicted that 25 years ago.

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"It was very lucky for us," he continued. "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."