GTA 3 Move from 2D to 3D was Rejected by Microsoft- PS2 Won the Game

Sometimes even big tech giants like Microsoft also take wrong business decisions and make huge mistakes. One such example is the shift of Grand Theft Auto 3 from the 2D Universe of games to the 3D Universe by Rockstar Games. The shift was proposed to Microsoft for a release on Xbox gaming consoles, but Microsoft thought that the move from 2D to 3D was a complicated process for Rockstar and rejected the offer on that front.

This was revealed in the recent episode of Power On: The Story of Xbox Documentary on YouTube. The story reveals how the Grand Theft Auto shift from the 2D to the 3D universe was pitched to Xbox executives by Rockstar. These newly important executives in Xbox who would review all the pitches from publishers and developers, they said “I don’t think that game is going to be able to make the transition from 2D to 3D”. They found the transition complicated and could not understand the interface of the new technological innovation. According to them the transition was set to fail, as it was based on a game that was not that successful in the market. Microsoft made a huge mistake and Xbox lost the opportunity to launch the popular game as an Xbox Exclusive.

According to a post on ‘X’ by ‘GTA 6 Countdown’, “In 2001, Xbox rejected Rockstar’s offer to turn the GTA series from 2D to 3D because they didn’t think it would be successful. The rest is history.”

In 2001, Xbox rejected Rockstar’s offer to turn the GTA series from 2D to 3D because they didn’t think it would be successful.



The rest is history. pic.twitter.com/mRiallFRR0

— GTA 6 Countdown ⏳ (@GTAVI_Countdown) July 20, 2024

How the Shift for GTA 3 from 2D to 3D Became a Success?

One lost opportunity did not stop Rockstar Games from launching GTA 3 as a 3D Universe game and they approached PlayStation with the same offer. PlayStation accepted the offer and GTA 3 was launched as a 3D Universe game and became a PlayStation 2 Exclusive in the year 2001. The game sold 14.5 million copies after the its launch as PS2 exclusive and Microsoft still regrets its decision. GTA 3 was finally released for Xbox in the following year as a part of the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, but that year its success was outshined by its successor GTA Vice City. The game Grand Theft Auto 3 is still a success in today’s times, but Microsoft lost the business opportunity to launch it as an Xbox Exclusive and earn the revenue that the game sales generated within a year of its launch on the PS2 platform.

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