PlayStation 2’s Dominance Fueled by Last-Minute ‘GTA 3’ Exclusive Deal
LOS ANGELES, CA – A chance encounter fueled by frustration ultimately secured a landmark exclusive deal that propelled the PlayStation 2 to console dominance, according to industry veterans recounting the story behind the partnership with Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 3. Despite initial doubts about the game’s potential, a late-stage negotiation transformed a complaint session into “the best exclusive contract in history,” worth $2 million.
Prior to GTA 3’s release, Rockstar executives, including Sam Houser, feared the game woudl fail to resonate with audiences. “The last E3 show before launch…the response was really bad. People weren’t that interested,” recalled Jamie Vermey. “I remember Sam Houser adn other people in New York saying, ‘Oh my God, this isn’t going to work.'”
However, Sony recognized the game’s potential and pledged meaningful marketing support, a promise they fully delivered on. While initial success wasn’t guaranteed, GTA 3 defied typical sales patterns.”Usually games sell well for 3-4 months and then die out. But that wasn’t the case with ‘GTA 3.’ It sold well but never died,” Vermey explained, attributing its longevity to organic word-of-mouth.
Take-Two Interactive strategically managed supply to capitalize on demand, shipping only 600,000 units when demand reached 1 million, fueled by public anxieties about a potential ban.”People said the game would be banned. It never would have been banned, but people believed it. So we kept our stock really tight,” stated Strauss zelnick.
The game’s cultural impact was swift and substantial. Dan Houser found himself defending the game’s violence on primetime television, and the demand for its soundtrack led to an unexpected offer from Sony Music Entertainment CEO Tommy Mottola. “He said, ‘I’ll get the tracks, just let me release the CD.’ That was the power of ‘GTA.'”
The success of GTA 3 directly correlated with PS2 hardware sales. “Every time we sell 100,000 new PS2s, we can say, ‘Okay, we’ve got to sell 10,000 more copies of GTA 3,'” noted David Lewis. While acknowledging the PS2 would have been prosperous regardless, industry figures agree GTA 3 was a critical catalyst.
“Would it have been as successful without ‘GTA’? Probably not, because the amount of coverage and popularity around that product sucked people in at an absurd rate,” said Zelnick. “Sony has put out a great platform,but without a game like ‘GTA’ on top of it,it’s just a piece of plastic. That game was essential to helping people understand and realize the opportunity, the cultural opportunity that PlayStation coudl provide.”
According to Phil Deering, the European market saw a 20% increase in performance thanks to the exclusive deal, extending through the PS2 and PS3 generations. The agreement itself originated from a spontaneous meeting. “They came to the Sunset Hotel to complain,” explained Colaco, culminating in the unexpected $2 million contract.
