Sony just made a potentially key move in the console wars, shoring up the exclusive rights to Rockstar Games' next big franchise. Nothing is known about the new game at this time, however. Also, SCEA's Jack Tretton revealed that "they let Rockstar out of the exclusive" for GTA IV "in exchange" for this.
Third-party exclusives may not be as common as they once were, but Sony is doing its best to retain some very important games as PS3 exclusives. Sure, GTA IV, Devil May Cry 4, Resident Evil 5 and Virtua Fighter 5 are now multiplatform titles, but Sony still has Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. And today, the company happily announced that it's secured "the next great franchise" from Rockstar Games as a PS3 exclusive.
In a post on the official PlayStation.blog, Michael Shorrock, Director of 3rd Party Relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), said, "As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we've agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios."
He continued, "Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what's to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that."
Nothing is known at this point about the unnamed franchise, and Shorrock pointed out that it's not LA Noire, but definitely "something all new." Unfortunately, Sony isn't prepared to say anything more for now. "We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn't disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we'll share more info as soon as we can," Shorrock added.
Interestingly, in an episode of Game Head, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton told host Geoff Keighley that getting the exclusive rights to Rockstar's next franchise was apparently "in exchange for letting them out of [the GTA IV] exclusive." Sony must be awfully excited about the potential of Rockstar's next project if they'd give up exclusivity for a property as hot [no pun intended] as GTA. The real question is whether Rockstar has another blockbuster franchise in them that's not named GTA. One former employee certainly doesn't think so.
by James Brightman
SOURCE:GAMEDAILY.COM
Third-party exclusives may not be as common as they once were, but Sony is doing its best to retain some very important games as PS3 exclusives. Sure, GTA IV, Devil May Cry 4, Resident Evil 5 and Virtua Fighter 5 are now multiplatform titles, but Sony still has Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. And today, the company happily announced that it's secured "the next great franchise" from Rockstar Games as a PS3 exclusive.
In a post on the official PlayStation.blog, Michael Shorrock, Director of 3rd Party Relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), said, "As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we've agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios."
He continued, "Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what's to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that."
Nothing is known at this point about the unnamed franchise, and Shorrock pointed out that it's not LA Noire, but definitely "something all new." Unfortunately, Sony isn't prepared to say anything more for now. "We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn't disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we'll share more info as soon as we can," Shorrock added.
Interestingly, in an episode of Game Head, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton told host Geoff Keighley that getting the exclusive rights to Rockstar's next franchise was apparently "in exchange for letting them out of [the GTA IV] exclusive." Sony must be awfully excited about the potential of Rockstar's next project if they'd give up exclusivity for a property as hot [no pun intended] as GTA. The real question is whether Rockstar has another blockbuster franchise in them that's not named GTA. One former employee certainly doesn't think so.
by James Brightman
SOURCE:GAMEDAILY.COM
