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Vice City To Xbox, Not GTA?

Posted by simoniker on from the bizarre-whisperings-du-jour dept.

Thanks to IGN Xbox for their report that Grand Theft Auto:Vice City may be coming to Xbox this Christmas, but without the famed 'GTA' name. According to the piece: "As many insiders know, the Grand Theft Auto series is supposed to be PlayStation 2 console exclusive, however sources reveal that Rockstar is circumventing the agreement by stripping the Xbox version of the title Grand Theft Auto, and simply repackaging the game as Vice City." If true, this would mean that Rockstar wouldn't need to wait until after the next GTA game was released to lose Sony exclusivity, and could put out suitably renamed/rebranded GTA titles on other consoles sooner, rather than later - a fascinatingly sneaky concept.

2 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Bad Form by limekiller4 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, they're Rockstar, but how stupid is it to give Sony of all people the big double deuce? Bad Fscking Move. Because trust me, Rockstar, you will see the same people coming down that ladder that you saw on the way up.

    I will admit that I have not looked into this past the blurb (so apologies in advance if a closer look would have revealed all this to be bogus), but if it's true this strikes me as very, very poor form. You got there, in part, with Sonys help. Incredible games, but I really hope their lawyers cram it up your ass.

    --
    My .02,
    Limekiller
  2. Re:Rockstar Would Pay Hard by Babbster · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Sony blocked Rockstar titles in the future as a form of punishment.

    Only if Sony is beyond stupid. That would be the equivalent of saying to Rockstar, "No thank you, we would rather NOT have those millions of dollars in royalties."

    If Rockstar WERE to evade the exclusivity deal in this matter, Sony might sue them, they might simply demand a portion of the cash they paid for the exclusivity back (Rockstar, Take Two, et. al. can easily afford it at the moment), and they would certainly be wary of doing any more exclusive deals with the company. They would not, however, discourage Rockstar from making PS2 games. The fact that Rockstar sells millions of units means that Sony makes millions of dollars in licensing fees. And Sony ain't Nintendo with the the whole grudge thing - they're in too many markets to take that kind of narrow view.