Reeves: GTA III PS2 exclusivity deal was "remarkably cheap"

Define "cheap".

Ex-SCEE boss David Reeves has told Eurogamer the exclusivity deal for Grand Theft Auto III on PlayStation 2 was "remarkably cheap".

A deal was sorted at a private showcase between Reeves, SCEE founder Chris Deering and third-party publishers in LA.

"The last meeting of the day was with Kelly Sumner [ex-Take Two boss]," said Deering.

"We picked up something called State of Emergency, which I don't think would have been on Xbox anyway. Then I said, 'What else have you got?'

"And they said, 'Well, we've got this Grand Theft Auto game... I suppose we could do a deal on that.'

"Our technical people had said GTA III was not bad. It was innovative, but not a monster. I had just heard it was good. So I said, 'OK."

Reeves says the deal wasn't done in a formal matter, but with beers instead.

No exact details were given on the deal.

Grand Theft Auto III turned out to be the big push for the GTA series, and one of the defining titles for PS2, which turned ten in Europe yesterday.