Every once in a great while, pure logic and reason comes shining through the BS like a beacon of human hope...hope that we're not all bowing to hype and unfounded statements.
Sony has taken plenty of flak for not keeping certain games exclusive, especially big-name titles like Grand Theft Auto IV. Up to this point, we've really had no official response from Sony as to exactly why this happened. However, in speaking at a bloggers' conference, Phil Harrison addressed the issue very simply when asked about GTA IV appearing on both the 360 and PS3.
First off, he emphasized that third-party exclusives would "come in good time." That freshly announced PlayStation Edge toolset for developers, designed to greatly ease the development process for the PS3, should greatly help matters. A recent example of the new kit was on display with the recent Killzone 2 tech demo at the GDC, and the kit should be available some time this fall.
Furthermore, Harrison made it plain that the PS3 was not currently suitable to be an exclusive home to a premiere installment like GTA IV. "I don't think PS3 has the install base to support Rockstar's investment in GTA IV on its own," Harrison told the assembled blogging crew. Rockstar needs a giant audience to see a return on what is likely a massive investment, and the current installed PS3 userbase simply isn't big enough. If they want to sell plenty of copies, it needs to be available on the 360 as well, but this clearly means things could change in the future.
The 360 has been out for well over a year, after all. Obviously, when there are more PS3s out there, it'll be that much easier to snag some high-profile third-party exclusives. We think this makes perfect sense, and all the negative talk about a lack of exclusives early on is easily explained by this situation. See? Reason and logic. Not so hard.
Man of the moment explains why GTA IV is not an exclusive to Sony PS3
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