GTA may not be as securely locked into the PS3 as we thought. In an interview with TheStreet.com, Take-Two Interactive CEO Paul Eibeler tells the online publication that the home for the next Grand Theft Auto installment has yet to be determined.
Q: You and Sony have had an exclusive arrangement with the Grand Theft Auto titles. Are we going to see a similar arrangement on the next generation of consoles?
When we announced that back on Grand Theft Auto 3, Sony was a big, big factor in the business and was a great partner of ours. We have since brought that brand to the Xbox and the PC market. It's just a wait-and-see attitude that we take to the market. We study the market and see whether that exclusive nature is good for the company at that time or if it's something that we might not want to do.
Q: So, the decision hasn't been made yet?
We haven't announced anything yet. It's a good position to be in, because we have the world's biggest brand and we have the hardware companies asking us, and certainly they want that product on their system. We will be finalizing that decision as we study the market.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is a monster series that has sold over 40 million units worldwide. The last three installments were locked in exclusive agreements to debut on Sony's PlayStation 2, helping the company achieve a dominant position in the last video game wars. The titles were eventually released to Microsoft's Xbox and PC.
An exclusive deal with Sony on the PS3 to debut the next installment could be a major factor in next-generation console sales. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are all striking deals to have games appear only on their next-generation systems in order to secure games that can't be played on rival systems.
Stay tuned to PS3 Portal for more news on the next Gen GTA game as it develops.