Dave Jones, creator of the Grand Theft Auto series and co-founder of Real Time Worlds, told Edge Magazine that he disagrees with Sony’s online strategy.
His main concerns stem from what he sees as Sony’s decision to force publishers to come up with their own online systems. “I seriously question Sony’s policy of leaving it down to publishers to come up with their own standards for each [online] game,” he said. “I completely disagree with it,” Jones went on. “I’m not going to put my credit card details with five different companies for some bits of downloadable content.”
The talks also ranged into Jones’ thoughts on how their differing strategies would affect the upcoming console race as a whole. “Sony is a huge force, and definitely has been with the PS2 – but now I see it being, at worst, a 50/50 race, but as time goes on I lean more and more towards Microsoft,” he said.
This leaning might be the reason that his company, Real Time Worlds, has signed a long-term contract to develop a number of exclusive titles for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. While this contract does not specifically stipulate that Real Time Worlds may not develop additional titles for other consoles, all of the company’s currently announced projects are headed to Microsoft platforms. Jones’ preference for Xbox Live is apparent in the company’s currently announced games; Crackdown will use XBox Live to allow players to play the game cooperatively, while the Xbox version of APB, an MMOG for the PC and 360, will be played entirely over Live.
