What if Microsoft Had Call of Duty and GTA? Remembering 2001, the Year When the Xbox Maker Failed To Foresee ‘A Dream Team’ of Two Legendary Video Game Franchises

Sony has dominated the gaming space for a long time, thanks to the enormous success of its first-party PlayStation exclusives. Microsoft, on the other hand, has struggled in the same category. However, this pattern might end up changing soon with the proposed acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision by the Xbox maker.

Microsoft is finally on the verge of becoming a true gaming giant with the addition of Call of Duty and more Activision franchises. Surprisingly, though, the company did get a similar opportunity two decades ago. Unfortunately, it didn’t opt for it back then – making the biggest mistake.

Microsoft declined GTA 3 on Xbox and failed to build the foundation for a powerful, future combination of Call of Duty and Rockstar’s gigantic open-world universe

This story dates back to 2001 when Microsoft decided to skip the chance to own Grand Theft Auto. Had it actually gone for the latter, the company would have been a force to reckon with in 2023, combining the power of CoD.

In case anyone missed keeping track of events, there was a documentary released in December 2021. It was made to celebrate the legacy of Xbox on its 20th anniversary. The documentary was divided into different sections, featuring the devs and people from Microsoft who were part of the company when the first generation of the console was launched.

One specific sequence from this documentary, however, is quite interesting to watch. It involves Kevin Bachus and Drew Angeloff. They both used to work at Microsoft when the plans for its own gaming device were running in full flow.

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Kevin mentioned that more than 20 years ago, Microsoft had the chance to become a massive video game titan with GTA. He told that the company was approached by Rockstar Games in 2001. The developer and publisher was just starting to expand its legs in the industry at that time. With its next Grand Theft Auto 3 entry, which was a 3D installment, Rockstar wanted the project to release on the Xbox.

However, some of the Xbox executives didn’t see it as a profitable opportunity, according to Drew. They felt that it had a complicated interface and believed that it wouldn’t be able to make the transition from 2D to 3D. “To my surprise, it was rejected”, said Kevin in the video. The game then ended up selling nearly 15 million units worldwide through PlayStation 2. And well, the rest is history.

Had Microsoft seized this golden chance, it would have transformed into an unmatched gaming powerhouse. And considering the fact that now it’s going to own the Call of Duty IP, the dream team of these two franchises would have worked wonders for the Xbox maker today. Unfortunately, one can only imagine about this missed opportunity now.

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