Microsoft turned down GTA III

By Tom Bramwell Published 15 May, 2006

Says new Xbox 360 book.

Microsoft could have had Grand Theft Auto III on Xbox first if a third-party publishing initiative called "The Star Chamber" hadn't turned down a Rockstar proposal, author Dean Takahashi claims in his new book, The Xbox 360 Uncloaked.

In an extract published on 1UP, Takahashi reports that under J Allard's direction, The Star Chamber - a group of game managers organised to evaluate game proposals sent to Microsoft - turned down a GTA III proposal, returning it with suggestions to "beef up" the game.

Rockstar went on to create the game exclusively for PlayStation 2, and it didn't appear on Xbox until much later - by which time the GTA brand was firmly associated with PS2. Further instalments launched first on the Sony format.

Takahashi said: "It wasn't Microsoft's kind of game, since it was a gritty crime game with foul language, abusive treatment of women, and cop killing. Microsoft had a corporate image to maintain and, like Electronic Arts, it avoided that category."

That's all in the past though - and Microsoft believes that the fact it'll have Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 on the same day it launches on PlayStation 3 could be a significant factor in the next-gen console war - as Peter Moore said on this site last week.

"When we do our research and ask PS2 owners why they're going to buy a PS3, they say it's because it's the only place they'll get Grand Theft Auto," he told us.

"So when you talk about neutralising that, that's very important to us. Then we say to gamers - and this flooded my inbox during the night - the only place you can play Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV is on an Xbox 360, and they've seen Gears of War and it blows the doors down for them."

Microsoft has yet to say anything about Takahashi's comments on GTA III and Xbox.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Darkedge #1 6 years ago

    hmmm okay well it wouldn't the the first time MS has made a really dumb decision but I wonder how much of this book is true - he's getting the headlines by saying a bunch of stuff that we'll never get confirmed.

  • JediMasterMalik #2 6 years ago

    After making such a big mistake they don't deserver to have GTA games FULL STOP. ;)

  • drumbaby #3 6 years ago

    "the only place you can play Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV is on an Xbox 360, and they've seen Gears of War and it blows the doors down for them"

    Christ..making games lists like that is a sign of blatant insecurity.

    ;)

  • UncleLou #4 6 years ago

    Reminds me of the poor souls who got offered Harry Potter, but decided not to publish it.

  • PearOfAnguish #5 6 years ago

    And that, folks, is what happens when you let the cretins from marketing make your decisions for you.

  • dsmx #6 6 years ago

    Marketing boards are one thing that companies should never listen to, you should be asking yourself when you make a product what would I want and chances are there are thousands of other people who do to.

  • kangarootoo #7 6 years ago

    "Christ..making games lists like that is a sign of blatant insecurity"

    Or advertising.

    @PearOfAnguish

    "And that, folks, is what happens when you let the cretins from marketing make your decisions for you"

    And who would you put in charge of marketing if not the marketeers? Us? With our "I know best because I know what I like and my mates like it to" stat munching abilities?

    Everyone makes mistakes and its easy to pick on the mistakes of others when you never have to provide the goods yourself. "Armchair Critic" is the accepted term I believe.

    Christ, I sounded very parental there for a moment. I'm not in marketing and I don't really know anyone who is. But lets face it, if we the EG readers were in charge of marketing at any of the 3 big console hitters they were be lucky to last 3 years.

  • kangarootoo #8 6 years ago

    "you should be asking yourself when you make a product what would I want"

    I'm kind of repeating myself here, but if you ask yourself what you want you are pitching to a pretty tiny market surely? Asking shitloads of people what they want is likely to be safer bet, and believe it or not that is exactly what marketing companies do.

  • neuroniky #9 6 years ago

    I love when you see the so called next gen telling you: "Come on! Buy a XXX! It's next gen! It has got YYY2, WWW3, ZZZ4 and all the EA stuff!".

    Sad, sad, sad state of affairs.

  • Blerk #10 6 years ago

    Microsoft are almost certainly working on a time machine as we speak.

  • PearOfAnguish #11 6 years ago

    I don't really know anyone who is

    Well I do. They're often largely clueless, simply going for any job with the words marketing in the description without any particular knowledge of the subject. That may work in some areas but it's not going to turn out well with something like games (or movies, for that matter, to give another example). Chances are this was a group composed of people who knew little to nothing about games (it's Microsoft, remember, they've been doing operating systems up until then) formed after a suggestion from someone desperate to keep their job.

  • Freek #12 6 years ago

    J Allard is fired right? Makes sense.

  • asphaltcowboy #13 6 years ago

    Yeah, what has happened to J? Not heard anything from him this E3...?

  • Rambaldi #14 6 years ago

    "After making such a big mistake they don't deserver to have GTA games"

    Someone who can't spell really shouldn't be criticizing other's mistakes ;)

  • HarryB #15 6 years ago

    he wasnt cool enough

  • JediMasterMalik #16 6 years ago

    Im atcully a vury gud spellur!

    No I actually couldn't be bothered editing my post for a single letter.

  • miiiguel #17 6 years ago

    In buisness I guess it doesn't matter much the "deserve thing", it's all about the bigger pocket.

  • JediMasterMalik #18 6 years ago

    Wonga? Are you Jack Thompsons son? Daughter? the man himself?

  • Tonka #19 6 years ago

    J Allard is found

  • JediMasterMalik #20 6 years ago

    "J Allard is found"

    LMAO
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/06 @ 15:16

  • rock27gr #21 6 years ago

    Didn't Nintendo actually buy part of DMA Design (the original creators of GTA) back in the SNES days?
    I remember them publishing UNIRACER in the SNES and Harvest Body on the N64. I also seem to remember that GTA was originally to be publishes by Ninitendo, but they turned it down also due to the violence.

  • BBIAJ #22 6 years ago

    Microsoft believes that the fact it'll have Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 on the same day it launches on PlayStation 3...

    Now correct me if I'm wrong, but Peter Moore said this was launching on October 16/19, I thought the PS3 wasn't out until November, making it a brief exclusive on the 360?

  • ruttyboy #23 6 years ago

    Wasn't the Star Chamber something set up by James II (or some other King) to overturn court cases he didn't agree with? I didn't realise corporate people were that knowledgable :)

  • Feanor #24 6 years ago

    October 2007. The PS3 should be out by then. :)

  • PearOfAnguish #25 6 years ago

    Face facts... if someone had put the design documents in front of you for GTA3 just after the PS2 had launched in Japan, none of you would have signed it... neither would I...

    Indeed, the decision makes sense. From a marketing point of view. Why waste time with a controversial game from a small studio in a less popular or unproven genre? I can see why those particular people turned it down. They were going for the Halo's of this world - FPS's were known to sell.
    But what if this committee had been a bunch of gamers looking at new concepts? It's more likely they'd have found its open-ended gameplay appealing.
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/06 @ 15:38

  • miiiguel #26 6 years ago

    I heard from an unreliable source that J. canceled the flight to E3 after watching Sony's conference. Didn't have to bother.

  • shamblemonkee #27 6 years ago

    Yeah, cos GTA 2 was such a failure... /rolleyes

  • Mho7276501 #28 6 years ago

    isnt there a film called The Star Chamber where a select few judges dish out vigilante style punishment on paroled criminals?? It had Micheal Douglas in it...
    Edited by 1 at 15/05/06 @ 16:37

  • OnlyMe #29 6 years ago

    Psychonauts, Stranger's Wrath and GTA3?

    Microsoft doesn't know quality when it kicks them in the testicles.

  • The-Bodybuilder #30 6 years ago

    >"Microsoft doesn't know quality when it kicks them in the testicles"

    They knew about malice, and sneakers, and tao feng, and that other action-rpg that no one remembers.

  • stuarty_2003 #31 6 years ago

    In retrospect, turning down GTA3 was a bad business decision. But what company hasn't made a bad business decision?

    For example, Sony's Playstation X was a bad business decision.
    The official N64 Disk Drive attachment was a commercial failure, and thus a bad business decision.

    And so forth....

  • Kiigan #32 6 years ago

    It's all bullshit folks. It's a fun notion, but it simply isn't true.

  • Foxclose #33 6 years ago

    As a Microsoft fan:
    J Allard needs to be kicked in the bollocks for this decision!!!

    Prick!

  • Kami #34 6 years ago

    ... just a shame GTA is a bit bollocks really...

    Seriously... does anyone actually play it properly?

  • Raziel #35 6 years ago

    "...the only place you can play Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV is on an Xbox 360..."

    The only place I can play GTA IV and more then 4 RPG's will be the PS3, so the x360 still fails for me.

  • alistar #36 8 months ago

    I think Microsoft made a big mistake but they did one with <a rel="follow" href="http://u s.battlestar-galactica.bigpoint.com">battlestar galactica games</a> too, so this is not a big surprise for me now. But Grand Theft Auto should have been on Xbox too. I don't know that the people from Microsoft are thinking