To get GTA on Xbox, Microsoft had to convince Rockstar that its console wasn't "going to be a flop," former exec says

The protagonist of GTA 4 holding his hand out in front of a Diner — (Image credit: Rockstar)

While GTA 6 is currently all set to release simultaneously on both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S when it eventually launches next November (a year as of yesterday, hang in there, folks), that wasn't a luxury Xbox always had. In fact, one former Xbox exec says Rockstar needed convincing that Microsoft's console wasn't "going to be a flop" in order to get the series on there.

Speaking in a new interview with Eurogamer for the Xbox 360's anniversary, Peter Moore – former corporate vice president of Microsoft's home and entertainment division who was responsible for all Xbox marketing and operations – talks about bringing GTA to Xbox. GTA 4 was the first Grand Theft Auto game to arrive on Xbox (specifically, the 360) at the same time as the rival PlayStation release (on a date Moore got a tattoo to advertise) – before that, the releases of Vice City and GTA 3 respectively arrived a year and two years after they did on Sony's consoles. The series' earlier entries never arrived on Microsoft's hardware at all.

"Money's important, but they needed convincing that their development resources, which needed to be shifted to Xbox SDKs, weren't going to be wasted if the console was going to be a flop," Moore explains, adding that "you can get paid all the money in the world to cover all your costs, but if it doesn't sell, that's an opportunity cost to the developer that they could have deployed on a console that would sell."

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I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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