GTA Not Key to Success, Says Sony

Because very few people bought a PlayStation 2 to play Grand Theft Auto, apparently.

The Grand Theft Auto series is the biggest success story in games in the past five years. The series has sold tens of millions of copies, most of them on the PlayStation 2, and it helped extend Sony's lead over the technologically superior Xbox. But if you ask Sony, the importance of the series has been overstated.

Not much help, it seems

Speaking about the importance of software in driving hardware sales, Sony's Jack Tretton, the boss of PlayStation in America, told business site The Street that Sony could have stuck it to Microsoft just as well without Rockstar's help.

"There's no question that having the Grand Theft Auto franchise helped us a lot and helped us sell some units, but I don't think the battle would be any different with or without Grand Theft Auto," Tretton said.

According to Tretton, the days of third-party exclusivity are numbered, mostly because developers are finding it so hard to break even on massive projects without exposing their games to the biggest audience possible.

Of course, the landscape is very different in the next generation, particularly with regard to Grand Theft Auto. For Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar has decided against giving Sony the timed exclusivity it enjoyed for the previous three games.

Many have called this a newfound respect for the bigger role that Microsoft will be playing in the next generation. But Tretton says losing the exclusivity period isn't bad for Sony.

"No, I don't think it hurts us. No, I really don't," he said.

"So, really," Tretton said, "what defines the uniqueness of a platform from a software standpoint are the offerings that you have from first party."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games