Sony doesn't see the loss of exclusivity on the Grand Theft Auto series as a problem in the forthcoming next-gen battle, according to SCEA Executive Vice President Jack Tretton.
In an interview with financial website The Street, Tretton said that the tech giant is confident of success against strong competition from Microsoft and Nintendo due to the strength of its first-party franchises.
"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 replied when asked how much it would hurt Sony to have the fourth GTA appear on the Xbox 360 and PS3 simultaneously.
Considering the phenomenal success of GTA, 'some units' is quite an understatement, but it's not surprising that the company would play down the loss of what could arguably have been the PS3's killer app.
Tretton also spoke of the substantial head start that Microsoft will have over the PS3 at launch. "We're looking to sell 100 million-plus worldwide. %26hellip; So, if a competitor gets to six to 10 million worldwide [in its first year], I would not consider that to be a significant advantage or a significant disadvantage as far as we're concerned".
Tretton also played down the PS3's relatively high price, pointing out that the $129 PS2 is currently outselling the Xbox 360 in the US.
June 22, 2006
