Sony Downplays GTA IV Episodic Content
In an exclusive interview to be published in the next few days on GameDaily BIZ, Scott Steinberg, VP of Product Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America, has commented on Microsoft’s exclusive episodic content for Rockstar’s much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV.
The GTA franchise historically has always been associated with Sony’s PlayStation, but this time not only is the latest GTA not exclusive, but Sony failed to secure a deal for any exclusive episodic content on PS3. If you ask Steinberg, however, none of that ultimately matters to the average consumer.
“[Microsoft] spent the GNP of several small Latin American countries to get that [content], and if you’ve ever played San Andreas…there’s a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto and there’s going to be a lot of game to Grand Theft Auto IV to the point where I think most people will have that Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS3, day and date, same core game shipping on the 360. Perhaps they’ll be shipping some episodic content in the fall, but there is a whole lot of product shipping on the PS3 in April and I personally don’t think there’s going to be a huge percentage of folks who jump into downloadable content for another price when they’re still playing through the core product,” he told us.
“So while I do think having that brand on their system was a move for them which they felt they needed to make because they cut a big check for it, I think PlayStation fans know the Grand Theft Auto experience on the PS2 is how they grew up playing Grand Theft Auto,” he continued, “and when you combine GTA IV with MGS 4 and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, all the exclusive content that we’ve got going forward, I think that goes from tipping point to shoving point for consumers who are on the fence, wondering what platform should I buy. I think the clear exclusive message that we have is that the PS3 is where, not only do you get Grand Theft Auto, but you’ll get MGS, you’ll get Gran Turismo and these are also brands that have moved hardware units. It’s the elite of the elite products that actually enable hardware to be sold with software and we’ll have three of them.”
Stay tuned for the full interview in which Steinberg talks about the impact of Blu-ray, the SKU strategy for the PS3, the Wii, controller complexity and more.
