Grand Theft Auto's transition from 2D to 3D with the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 saw the series reach a new level of success, quickly becoming one of the most iconic franchises in the world of gaming. The massive success of the trio of PlayStation 2 games elevated Rockstar Games into one of the titans of the industry with the Grand Theft Auto trilogy recently being remastered for modern consoles. However, a recent documentary on Xbox revealed that Microsoft had turned down the chance to bring the impending phenomenon to Xbox on launch.
Before the release of the highly-acclaimed third entry into the franchise, Grand Theft Auto had been a top-down 2D series for its first two games on the original PlayStation. The first two games saw moderate success with critics praising the freedom of their gameplay but failed to break through on the level of future games in the series. With the sixth console generation approaching, the recent documentary series, Power On: The Story of Xbox, reveals that Rockstar had approached Microsoft about bringing Grand Theft Auto's first 3D title to Xbox.
In the six-part documentary series diving into the history of Xbox, several figureheads within Microsoft's Xbox division speak about the birth of the console and among them, Director of 3rd Party Relations Kevin Bachus and Drew Angeloff, another employee working for Microsoft at the time, explained that a team of "newly important executives" had rejected Grand Theft Auto 3. The unnamed executives believed the franchise would struggle to "transition from 2D to 3D," citing a complicated user interface and doubting the potential success of GTA 3 based on the previous two games.
While Grand Theft Auto 3 and its follow-ups in Vice City and San Andreas would see massive success launching as exclusives on PlayStation 2, the open-world shooter franchise would eventually come back to Microsoft with the three games making up Grand Theft Auto's 3D Trilogy later coming to Xbox. The series has since gone on to become a staple of the gaming industry with future main series titles launching on Xbox alongside the PlayStation versions.
The Grand Theft Auto franchise's trio of games from the sixth console generation have remained some of the most recognizable and highly-regarded games to this day. GTA: San Andreas remains one of the best-selling games of all-time, a trend that would continue with future entries in the franchise, and the three games have all seen multiple re-releases to most consoles since and even received mobile versions. Grand Theft Auto 3 revolutionized the franchise and helped push Rockstar Games into its juggernaut status, with or without the help of Microsoft.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch.
Source: PureXbox