Login:
Password:
Lost Password?
Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

Sony Gets Exclusive Rights to Unnamed Rockstar Game

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

July 30, 2007, 5:03 PM

We don't know what it is yet, but Sony's talking up its exclusive deal for the PlayStation 3 on a new game franchise from Rockstar Games.

Exact details of the contract were not provided; SCEA third party relations chief Michael Shorrock said it wasn't the LA Noire franchise, but "something completely new." Rockstar and Sony have had a close relationship in the past, especially surrounding the Grand Theft Auto franchise.

However, Microsoft grabbed a piece of the GTA pie when it announced in June that it would have exclusive content rights for the fourth installment of the series, which is due out in October.

"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," Shorrock said. "Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that."

From the scant details provided by Sony, the new title apparently would make heavy use of the PlayStation 3's Cell and Blu-ray technologies. Under the deal, gamers won't find out much more, as Sony was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for the rights.

JupiterResearch senior analyst Michael Gartenberg cautioned about being overly enthusiastic about the deal, saying there is just not enough details to make an honest assessment.

"There's one interesting part of this," he said. "No one does exclusives without a really good reason and given the fact that Sony is not dominating this console cycle, I would think Sony must have paid quite a bit to get the exclusivity."

Add a Comment (62 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:52 AM

Well there's one of 15 exclusive games coming out to the PS3 this year. I wonder what the other 14 are?

I think GTA though is Rockstar's best game. I wonder if it'll be any good. Probably though not enough to spend $560+ for it though (for the PS3 and game). I still have a bunch of 360 games to finish and it looks like and there's a bunch more coming out that look sweet too (Bioshock, The Darkness, Condemned 2 (the first one scared the s out of me, the first game to do that), GTA4+Episodic Content, Halo 3, Timeshift, Blacksite: Area 51, Postal 3, Clive Barker's Jericho (I like CB's Unding, I wonder if it'll be like that game), Fable 2, COD4, Assassins Creed, Half Life 2: Orange Box (still haven't beat the original HL2), Splinter Cell: Conviction, Soul Calibur 4, Virtual Fighter 5, plus more that I can't remember).

Score: 0

By darkzero63

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:26 PM

You're forgetting Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation, Resident Evil 5, Devil May Cry 4, and last but not least Halo 3.

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 3:13 PM

Mass Efect
FlatOut: UC
Too Human
Alan Wake

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 7:48 PM

Word. I can't believe I forgot those. Where do they think I can get all this money for all these games?

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 8:50 PM

I have about $400 set aside so far just for games this fall lol.

Score: 0

By sonyfan01

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 8:53 AM

I agree that 360 has some sick games but the one thing taht bothers me is whenever people post that 360 has sick games they always mention games that are also out for ps3 such as the darkness, Assassins Creed, Half life 2, soul calibur etc, splinter cell etc. I actually read an article that said GTA IV was going to be out just for the 360 which is total BS. The list of actual exclusive games is very slim for each system.

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 9:20 AM

Actually I think Splinter Cell: Conviction is PC/Xbox 360 exclusive.

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 9:46 AM

So is bioshock, and others that he mentioned.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 1:50 AM

http://img409.imageshack...09/1838/image038bf9.jpg

BWAAAAAHAHAHAAHAAH!

Informed Consumer? Dave, are you retarded? I'm being serious. Do you live under power lines or was there a lot of lead paint in your childhood home?

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:45 AM

By the way, Rockstar started getting s***ty with Midnight Club DUB edition. That game truly sucked. Just another version of Midnight Club II with all the fun s*** removed.

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:16 AM

Watch it be exclusive rights to something similar to Bully that doesn't sell units comparably do GTA...

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 12:08 AM

Hmmm, Rockstar ROCKS! I'm wondering what this game could be, this is good to know. Wouldn't it be funny (and cool)if this is the game that will rank up the sales of PS3? and the whole world all of the sudden want's a PS3 just for this game? oh the madness this would cause,my dreams and visions would never be more justified than to see this happen someday!

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:16 PM

"my dreams and visions would never be more justified than to see this happen someday!"

Wow...That is really sad...

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 3:15 PM

I know, tell me about it...

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:50 AM

Don't hold your breath.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 11:48 PM

This is great and all but Dave's system still sucks a fat ass.

Score: 0

By computershack

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 7:38 PM

I wonder if it's the same as all the other so called PS3 exclusives that ended up being on the 360 once the developers realised how much royalties they were gonna lose.

Anyway, if it looks like being good, Billy G can just get out the chequebook and buy the company.

Score: 0

By Informed Consumer

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 12:00 AM

Yeah! Just after he writes that cheque for a billion dollars of faulty XBOX consoles.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/58189.html

Now that the game studios are learning to develop for the PS3, ports will not be possible to the 360 with 1/4 the horsepower and 1/10th the storage.

Score: 0

By computershack

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 10:26 AM

"Yeah! Just after he writes that cheque for a billion dollars of faulty XBOX consoles."

And despite writing that cheque which would still leave him with $31 Billion in the bank, he could still buy out Sony from his own personal fortune and have more money left than all of us here combined would earn in our entire lifetimes. Microsoft could buy out Sony and use it to reduce their tax burden.

And as all games are written on PCs in the first place, compiling them as needed isn't that difficult. Hell, they're even porting some PS3 stuff to PS2.

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 9:55 AM

Informed consumer I think not, brainwashed yes.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:19 AM

Hello Steve.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:40 AM

You mean Dave / Benjamin / Steve

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:55 AM

He has too many user names, I can't remember them all.

Score: 0

By kholdstare

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 6:23 PM

if there going to make use of the blu-ray disks it may turn out to be a huge game

Score: 0

By computershack

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:27 AM

As long as it doesn't end up being one big FMV fest as happened with both CD and DVD in their infancy.

I recall playing Splinter Cell on the PS2 and thinking that I had more control in Dragons Lair back in the 80's.

Score: 0

By pitdingo

edited Jul 30, 2007 - 10:04 PM

Yeah, all on one disk too rather than having to swap disks all the time on M$ 360. More disks also equals a better chance to have one get scratch by all the defective consoles.

-----edit-----
Looks like developers are having problems with the low capacity offered by the inferior DVD format used by M$ in the 360

http://gamers-creed.com/?p=156

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 11:18 PM

Take your anti-MS BS elsewhere, k? No one here wants to hear it. Sony's PS3 is a sinking ship. They're grasping at straws with this "exclusive" haha. You Sony idiots bought a $600 paper weight. Enjoy.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:43 AM

I bought my paperwieght on launch night / day.

Score: 0

By Informed Consumer

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 12:24 AM

Nice! Thanks for the pro-MS BS. If the 360 was a car model it'd be the Ford Pinto. What kind of crap costs $1 billon in hardware warranty fees. Even MS investors and shareholders think they should drop it and focus on what they do best, Windows.

http://biz.gamedaily.com...d=AOLGAM000500000000019

http://www.marketwatch.c...DAA4A%2D38483104C35F%7D

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 11:06 AM

Ford sold 11 million Pintos Dave, Just like Microsoft sold 11 million 360's.

And if the 360 is the Ford Pinto, then the Wii is the Pontiac T-1000 with even less performance and looks. Yet Pontiac managed to sell millions of those as well.

Last but not least, the PS3 would be the Ford Edsel. A great car with a bad body that they couldn't give away.

Dave, you are pathetic.

Score: 0

By computershack

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:29 AM

Well a $1 Billion hit allowed them to hit market a year earlier than PS3. Which allowed them to sell more. Which meant that the software developers who got sick of waiting for Sony, decided to port their PS3 exclusives so they could recoup the cash they'd spent instead of having to wait an indeterminate length of time until Sony got its act together.

Score: 0

By Niro

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 12:13 PM

"having to wait an indeterminate length of time until Sony got its act together."

I think everybody is still waiting for that to happen.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 2:00 AM

"Even MS investors and shareholders think they should drop it and focus on what they do best, Windows."

To bad it's selling better than the PS3 in total global sales. The current rise in sales are only because of the price cut. But I think that's going to be temporary, just like the price cut.

Score: 0

By pitdingo

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 4:47 PM

too bad the Wii is selling way better in total global sales. What is your point?

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Aug 1, 2007 - 3:10 AM

"What is your point?"

That the PS3 is in last place.

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:42 AM

Hey Informed Cunsumer,

That picture you posted of your system was hilarious. Do you have any more embarrassing photos you'd like to share with us?

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 10:51 PM

Hmm that's funny because I have never had to swap a disc, nor has it ever been scratched by my system. Also the feature that they had to cut on PGR4 was nothing special anyway. Also even if they did use more than 1 disc it would not be that big of a deal.

Score: 0

By SlapShot

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 10:31 PM

troll

Score: 0

By Hollywood__

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:41 AM

Thats Dave with *what a surprise*, a new username.

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 12:01 AM

What's a troll?...no seriously, I mean, in the forums, what da heck does that mean? I keep seeing that everywhere, somebody please help not to be so ignorant in the forums, PLEASE!!

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 1:54 AM

Learn to use Google and Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28internet%29

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 3:46 AM

Yeeees!! thx!...you know usually I do use those two, or even better my favorite www.urbandictionary.com, and I still can't comprehend why in da hell, didn't I thought about that before, anyway thank you!

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 2:02 AM

())_Crayon_))>

Score: 0

By PSXp-ONE

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 3:54 AM

lol...which one applies to me?

http://www.urbandictiona.../define.php?term=crayon

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 9:22 PM

Huge in size does not make a good game. So many people tend to forget that.

I am sure $ony spent mountains of money for this. But some people will say only Microsoft does that.

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 11:20 PM

"Huge in size does not make a good game. So many people tend to forget that."

Are you kidding? Of course it does! If some company were to release an 80 GB game right now, it would be the best game ever. It doesn't matter what kind of content, size matters!

Seriously though, Sony has taunt storage space. It's one of the only things they got going for them. You can't get good games for your consoles, so just get one really big one and brag about its size!

Score: 0

By Niro

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 9:47 AM

"Are you kidding? Of course it does! If some company were to release an 80 GB game right now, it would be the best game ever. It doesn't matter what kind of content, size matters!"

Not only does the game have to be at LEAST 20-30GB to be considered good, it has to be on a blu-ray disc. Don't forget that, it's important.

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:07 AM

That is true, if something else came out that held 400 gig it wouldn't matter since blo-ray is the best storage solution.

Score: 0

By dlab21

edited Jul 30, 2007 - 5:52 PM

"There's one interesting part of this," he said. "No one does exclusives without a really good reason and given the fact that Sony is not dominating this console cycle, I would think Sony must have paid quite a bit to get the exclusivity."
yea people are always just throwing millions to get exclusivity on a untested, unknown projects. and since sony has clearly stated they wont pay for exclusivity i doubt a big cheque was written.
its probably nice as a developper to know that all your content can fit on 1 50gb disc rather than downloading episodes, and that if need be a hardrive will be available so they can code to use it, not hope the owner doesn't have a model without one.

Score: 0

By kashin

edited Jul 30, 2007 - 11:28 PM

"sony has clearly stated they wont pay for exclusivity i doubt a big cheque was written."

Yes, but we agree that a check *was* indeed written, right? Which again proves Sony are a bunch of liars who like to mislead their own fans. They say there's no price drop for the PS3, the next week there's one. They say they don't pay for exclusivity, the next week they sign for one. Go figure. At least they're consistent. Consistently lying that is. So in conclusion, Sony lied again.. unless they got this exclusive title free of charge. Come on, which Sony cheerleader wants to argue that they did? Where's Steve, Linus, etc.? I'm sure they have plenty of random links about the subject to prove how amazing Sony is and how horrible Microsoft is. You know, because you can never ever say anything positive about Sony without saying something really bad about Microsoft at the same time. You have to contrast them. It's the only possible way to make Sony look good.

PS - This is Rockstar we're talking about. It's a highly sought after developer. This isn't Eidos or Acclaim, who will make you a crappy "exclusive" game for a bag of chips and a six pack of root beer. While YOU may not believe a big check was written, I think most people would disagree with you on that.

Score: 0

By dlab21

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 12:20 AM

if sony offered up to help with development costs, and advertising etc (which they stated was one of their approaches to 'enticing' exclusivity) then they didn't lie and 'big name' rockstar still gets what they need. if for example sonys helps with startup costs of production, marketing etc its a set fee not writing a cheque for the game only to appear on their console then continuously writing more based on how well the game does.
see the difference?
.. probably not.
as far as the price drop goes... umm let it go.. the price is now lower, hence a drop in price.

Score: 0

By bobthegoat2001

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 2:09 AM

"which they stated was one of their approaches to 'enticing' exclusivity"

That's the problem. Is that how they 'enticed' Rockstar? Who knows, but still in a way Sony's still giving them money (not directly, but like you said, help with developement costs, advertising etc.)

"as far as the price drop goes... umm let it go.. the price is now lower, hence a drop in price."

That wasn't his point though, his point was they point blank lied about it. They specifially said no price drop, then turned around and did it.

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 2:07 AM

You paint such a pretty picture of Sony. Do they go around giving hand jobs to all the devs at Rockstar too in lieu of actual money? Give me a break. Money is money. Companies don't "entice" exclusivity, they contract it. Do you think the deal was struck with a handshake or written on paper? The bottom line is, whether Sony writes a check for a million dollars or promises to spend a million dollars in advertising, it's still a million dollars spent. Same thing with development costs. At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure they had an exact dollar amount worked out and written up on paper and sealed under a NDA. Whether that dollar amount be handed over in cash (probably not, since Sony is strapped for cash) or spent in other ways makes no difference.

"as far as the price drop goes... umm let it go.. the price is now lower, hence a drop in price."

Sure, okay. Should I also let go of the exploding batteries, root kits, numerous lies and delays before the POS3 actually came out, and small companies Sony sued into the ground simply for importing their consoles to other regions of the world? Yes, the price is now lower.. TEMPORARILY. They're desperately trying to clear out inventory. Big chains like Wal-Mart don't like being the storage place for Sony's paper weight. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these big chains threatened to stop selling the POS3 if Sony didn't do something to start moving units.

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:15 AM

Gamestop has the 80 gig system on their web site for hum $599.99. Guess they had a fire sale for the 60 gig version after all.

Score: 0

By dlab21

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:23 AM

yea they also have 20 models for $449.99 so... your point?

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:49 AM

That the price drop is temp. unlike what the brainwashed $ony people say. $599.99 is alive and well with $ony.

Score: 0

By bourgeoisdude

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 5:46 PM

"There's one interesting part of this," he said. "No one does exclusives without a really good reason and given the fact that Sony is not dominating this console cycle, I would think Sony must have paid quite a bit to get the exclusivity."

That sums it up pretty well I'd say. I'll bet the cost of putting Oblivion on the console was quite painful as well...

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 30, 2007 - 10:54 PM

Basically this time around 80-90% of all the good games are either made by the console company themselves, or multi-platform.

Score: 0

By LuvSublime

edited Jul 31, 2007 - 9:54 AM

I remember the PS2 had a very slow start, and people were saying that nothing was going to sell on it... then whala, Rockstar came out with GTA3 (exclusivly) and bam demand for the PS2 rose up high; Now lets also look at one thing, the 360 is only going to be on the market for about another 3 years tops... the PS3 will be on the market for the next 10 years. Sony over develops all their game consoles... They did it with the PS1, and the PS2...

Microsoft rushed the XBox 360 through development and production to get it out before the PS3 and Wii came out, because they knew they couldn't compete unless it was out first... and look what happened, 1billion in warranty fees/repairs... Thats some bulls*** guys... Either way you look at it, Both companies lost Money, Sony will be able to make money eventually, but for Microsoft to make money off the 360 will have to Microsoft go back and do alot of redesign on the 360 hardware.

Score: 0

By terminalx

posted Aug 1, 2007 - 12:37 AM

Except with ps2 they didn't cut the price so quickly and the ps2 at least had some games.

Sony STILL never fixed their issues with the lasers and disk read errors and then there's overheating on the slimlines, plus its not nearly as sturdy as the old style ps2. (just google it, people are still complaining 7 years later)

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:20 AM

10 years I really do not believe $ony for a second on that one. It might be like the PS2 and still be around but most likely not their current console. You are brainwashed to think they will not have a new console out by then. With technology improving so quickly other consoles will come out and make the PS3 look like an Atari 2600. Well maybe that bad but you get the picture.

Score: 0

By siryak

posted Jul 31, 2007 - 10:52 AM

It will haft to sell that long for them to turn a profit lol.

Score: 0

Dec 5 - 1:45 AM ET Shazam: eight million songs of the eternal Now

Dec 4 - 7:30 PM ET Comcast to offer bandwidth consumption monitor

Dec 4 - 5:37 PM ET Counterfeiters sing the 'Blue' as Microsoft lawyers up

Dec 4 - 4:40 PM ET Opera 10 alpha shows off new Presto rendering engine

Dec 4 - 2:29 PM ET Apple: Psystar clone-maker is working with unnamed collaborators

Dec 4 - 2:21 PM ET Windows Live rollout sketchy, team apologizes

Dec 4 - 2:20 PM ET Stinging from a revenue shortfall, Adobe to shed workers

Dec 4 - 11:47 AM ET The storm hits AT&T, with a five-digit headcount reduction

Dec 4 - 11:42 AM ET TV sports adopts Web coverage, plays with iPhones

Dec 4 - 11:24 AM ET Microsoft seeks 'community' help to make IE8 Standards Mode work out