Independent developers are bringing GTA 3 to Dreamcast, and even the original GTA devs are impressed by their efforts.
Over the past few days developer Falco Girgis has posted exciting news on X about the progress of the ongoing development of the Sega Dreamcast port of Grand Theft Auto 3. The work on it has apparently gone well enough that it has drawn the interest of one of Grand Theft Auto's original developers, Obbe Vermeij.
In a reply to a video progress uploaded by Girgis, Vermeij praised the efforts to port the 2001 title on SEGA's last commercially produced console, saying, "There is an impressive effort going on to make gta3 run on the Sega Dreamcast."
Vermeij then reconfirmed the earlier reports that Rockstar Games initially started the development of GTA 3 on the Dreamcast before switching to the PlayStation 2 for "commercial reasons." We can only imagine that this is because the original PSone had already successfully launched at the time, and the PS2 was looking like a sure commercial hit, at least compared to its contemporaries, such as the Dreamcast and the original Xbox.
In hindsight, the initial deal with Sony to put GTA 3 as a timed exclusive on the PlayStation 2 has gone successfully. The PS2 is currently the best-selling video game console of all time, with GTA 3 selling more than 8 million copies on the platform in the 2000s. Subsequent installments would prove to be even bigger hits, with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas selling more than 10.5 million and 17.33 million copies on the PS2 alone, respectively.
While the numbers are dwarfed by Grand Theft Auto 5's ongoing success, they do prove how lucrative exclusivity deals can be.
Would the Dreamcast have remained functional if Rockstar and Sega had reached a deal to make GTA 3 exclusive to the platform? It's possible, but we can't say for sure.
Going back to the Dreamcast port of GTA 3, Vermeij showed optimism in his replies of seeing it in fruition, even hoping that Take-Two Interactive wouldn't take the project down, as they have so many others in recent memory. He also seems to want the developers to go beyond GTA 3, saying "If they can get gta3 to work I'm sure they can do the same with Vice City. They're basically the same game."
After Dreamcast failed commercially, SEGA pivoted to full-time third-party publishing. Ironically, one of their best-selling franchises since then, the Yakuza franchise, has drawn comparisons to Grand Theft Auto.
Over twenty years after GTA 3 came out on the market, the GTA franchise is bigger than it has ever been. The upcoming sequel, Grand Theft Auto 6, is one of the most hyped games in recent memory. Most recently, GTA 6 was subject to reports of a delay, but trusted insiders have downplayed the possibility.
