Kutaragi Forced GTA4 and Assasin’s Creed to 360
In the previous generation, Grand Theft Auto was a huge draw for Sony’s Playstation 2. This time, however, the playing field has been leveled now that Grand Theft Auto 4 will launch simultaneously across all platforms. A new Newsweek blog states that both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Ubisoft’s Assasin’s Creed were definitely intended to be PS3 exclusives, as originally rumored.
It was Sony’s patented lack of communication and utter ignorance that led to both franchises hitting the Xbox 360. While it’s stunning that Sony could let these games fall through their fingers, I find it fascinating that it took this much effort from Microsoft to actually land these key titles at all.
We’ve learned that Take-Two and Rockstar Games were interested in continuing their longtime relationship with Sony, in which they premiered their Grand Theft Auto games on PlayStation platforms exclusively for 6-12 months before bringing them to other systems. Also, Ubisoft was interested in making Assassin’s Creed, due in stores next spring, exclusive to the PS3. But neither company’s top executives–all extremely important figures in the games industry–could get an answer from Kutaragi. PlayStation’s Japanese headquarters was effectively radio silent, and without Kutaragi’s signoff, the normally independent American and European branches had no authority to reach agreements on the exclusives they believed could be valuable to the PS3 cause.
While Kutaragi dragged his feet, Microsoft’s top brass called these third-parties almost daily, asking each of them, “What would it take for you to publish these games on 360?” Finally, the executives could wait no longer, and both Take-Two/Rockstar and Ubisoft cut deals to make their games available on Xbox 360 as well as PS3. None of the 3rd party executives we spoke with would address the matter directly. One source, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of these negotiations, says “I do have to give Microsoft a lot of credit for going after titles and doing whatever they can to generate third-party support. They’ve been magnificent in this generation.”
Via Newsweek tipped from Gamespot
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