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The story
Game publisher Take-Two Interactive has signed a new long-term publisher license agreement with Microsoft for Xbox, according to an X (formerly Twitter) earnings-news account. Take-Two is the parent company of Rockstar Games, maker of the Grand Theft Auto series. On 5ch’s gaming hardware/industry board, opinions split over how this deal might affect future software releases. Some argued it’s just a standard publishing agreement premised on multi-platform releases rather than an exclusivity deal, while others pointed out that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) hasn’t announced a similar long-term agreement, voicing concern over PlayStation’s future prospects.
🟢 $TTWO Take-Two Interactive Software — Breaking
New long-term Xbox publisher license agreement signed with Microsoft
💼 Deal details
Source: x.com / Original post here
What people said
Do you even know what Play Anywhere is?
You can't play something that isn't already out on PC.
I think it's coming.
Let's look forward to it.
If that were true, they wouldn't make GTA6 disc-less.
How exactly is it in trouble? 🥺
They'd lose their priority treatment on GTA too —
and that sense of superiority was part of why PlayStation got so popular in the first place.
Hint: Take-Two is Rockstar's parent company.
they're probably going all-in on Steam and Xbox-on-PC.
Given how badly Sony's first-party titles have been flopping, and how ruthlessly Sony's been cutting losses,
it makes sense to pivot toward multiplatform: MS + Steam, Sony + Nintendo.
Honestly the PS5 Pro optimization for GTA6 makes zero sense at this point.
What part doesn't make sense?
Did you post Re: #23 without even understanding what it means? LOL (草 = internet "lol")
Also maybe when the PC version comes out, they'll put it on the Microsoft Store with Play Anywhere support.
With Sony, it's PS5 only.
That kind of priority treatment will just naturally shift once Xbox starts selling well anyway.
It came out in court that SIE's whole playbook is buying priority with money and locking it down with contracts.
No way, right? But if that actually happened, wouldn't that be huge?
Given the file size, you'd need 3 or 4 discs, so that'd really rack up the cost.
So does that mean Sony's been paying up too because they were at risk of being dropped?
If so, now that Take-Two's found a partner in Microsoft, Sony's getting dumped again — right after Kojima Productions. 😁
That's the standard copy-pasta line people trot out when they've got no comeback left.
Come on, go easy on him lol
This new deal is probably looking ahead to 2028 and beyond lol
Can't really do anything about what's already locked into existing contracts lol
It's so SIE can't pull its usual interference — that's the whole point.
The article's basically saying they consolidated a bunch of scattered smaller deals into one, with an eye on the future.
If it's just a publishing agreement, Sony has those too, right?
Not every company gets a long-term publishing deal like this.
It's also a way of signaling to users that the games are guaranteed to actually come out.
And it's a final nail against anyone trying to interfere down the line.
The long-term commitment is the whole point.
They didn't extend it, though.
Part of why this is a big deal is that SIE hasn't done the same.
If a PS6 were actually on the way, you'd expect a contract like this to show up —
but there's not even a hint of one.
It does matter.
It keeps out the kind of company that might suddenly decide on a whim to block something or slap on exclusive content.
There were cynics like this when Microsoft and Sega teamed up too lol
Though since Persona still comes out on PlayStation, I guess you could argue it still falls under "pointless posturing."
Background and Key Points
This agreement is a “publisher license agreement,” not a declaration of hardware exclusivity. In fact, Grand Theft Auto VI, developed by Take-Two’s subsidiary Rockstar Games, is still slated for release on PS5 — and within the thread, posts mistaking this for an exclusivity deal were corrected by others noting it doesn’t override existing agreements. What drew more attention was the absence of any announcement that Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has signed a similarly long-term deal. Combined with the lack of clarity around the timing of Sony’s next-generation console, this became a talking point about a possible gap in platform strategy — though it’s worth noting this is purely speculation from 5ch users, not an official statement from Sony.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry – Gaming) thread “Take-Two Signs Long-Term Publishing Deal with MS, Xbox.”
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