In the Power On documentary, it is revealed that the title was offered as an exclusive for the original Xbox

What would you say if I told you that Grand Theft Auto III might have changed the course of Xbox? That’s something we’ve recently learned thanks to the documentary Power On: The Story of Xbox, which you can watch for free this week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first console.

Rockstar’s title played a key role at the time. As we see in the documentary, the company approached Microsoft in 2001 to propose that GTA 3 would be exclusive to the original Xbox, but the multinational’s executives did not make the best decision. Microsoft turned down the offer, forcing Rockstar to turn to Sony to finally make the game a limited-time exclusive for the PlayStation 2, helping to popularise the competing console.

“They felt the move from 2D to 3D was complex,” says Kevin Bachus, Xbox’s head of third-party relations at the time. “They didn’t quite understand the interface and thought it was based on a game that hadn’t been too successful. To my surprise, it was rejected.”

In 2001, Rockstar Games approached Microsoft to pitch GTA3 for the original Xbox but the Microsoft execs outright rejected them – thus forcing them turn to Sony to make the title a limited time exclusive for the PS2, according to a new released documentary by Xbox. pic.twitter.com/ijrJUGlc6g

— Ben Turpin (@videotech_) December 14, 2021

“It ended up selling 14.5 million units,” he laments. “It was the best-selling game of 2001, and it would have been the best-selling game of 2002 if its own sequel hadn’t beaten it.” Unsurprisingly, he is referring to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which was released the following year.

Microsoft rectified this years later at E3 2006 when they announced with great fanfare that Grand Theft Auto 4 would be released on Xbox 360 and would have temporary exclusivity on its expansions, contrary to the decision made five years earlier by a group of new executives who were dedicated precisely to assessing all possible releases.

The third numbered instalment of Rockstar’s open-world hooligan has recently returned with GTA: The Trilogy, a definitive edition that remasters three classics of the franchise for current platforms. In addition, GTA 3, in particular, is available to PlayStation Now subscribers, having been added recently.

As for the documentary Power On: The Story of Xbox, it’s worth remembering that it’s making some other big headlines, so we recommend checking it out. It refers to the famous Xbox ring of death, but also has some really relevant statements for the industry, as it’s not every day we see a company admitting a mistake, as has happened with Xbox and the case of Lionhead Studios.

Source: vandal