At Take-Two, being asked continually by investors, analysts, media and fans alike when the next Grand Theft Auto game is coming out is a regular occurrence -- and corporate communications VP Alan Lewis says he can't blame them.
In fact, he tells Gamasutra, he'd probably ask the same question, were he on the outside looking in. But so successful is the highly-valued franchise that it's driven what he says are "misconceptions" about the company -- chief among them is the idea that the publisher truly only has the potential to profit in a GTA year.
The company in fact has several strong properties --
according to Lewis, Take-Two publishes 17 franchises that have sold over 1 million units, and eight franchises that have sold over 5 million units.
Zelnick and Slatoff have received a $25m bonus for their management fund after sacking 550 people from Take Two Interactive.
I really don't even think CEO's should get bonuses. If I were a CEO and I made millions, I would like to think I wouldn't. Or if I had to legally, I would maybe find a way to disperse among the lower tier employees. Take my bonus and turn it into stocks to disperse out to those employees evenly.
CEO's work for shareholders and are shareholders they also rely on share price to receive their multimillion dollar paydays and they will happily fire thousands to protect shares. CEO's are there to extract the most value out of a company and give it to the wealthy few.
That is so god damn fucked up!! Unfortunately...I know damn well I will be still buying their games but shit like this should seriously have some sort of repercussion of some sort. 550 people get their lives totally up-ended and the leadership get a bonus on top of an already high salary. 25M could set those 550 people up with an annual salary each of $45,000. Depending on where you live, that is a very livable salary even...
The Take-Two lineup for next year looks epic, with releases like GTA 6, Borderlands 4, Judas, and Mafia: The Old Country all coming next year.
IMHO,
Judas in early 2025
Mafia 4 in mid 2025
Borderlands 4 in late 2025
GTA VI in early 2026
All within fiscal 2025.
Well I know for sure mafia devs and gta 6 will be 2 of the games that finally utilize this gen consoles power
Take-Two, the industry tycoon and owner of Rockstar Games, has an amazing line-up for 2025 outside of GTA 6.
GTA 6 is on my list, Mafia Old Country is in my cross hairs, and Borderlands 4 I am on the fence, and Judas also looks interesting.
Judas could be good but it will need some serious sales milestones to keep Ken Levine employed with 2K.
GTA6 is a no brainer. I am all in with that titan.
Sony, buy them!
Awesome, I always like when new IP's come out. They give the gaming market a little mix from the usuals that we see like halo, uncharted, gears, gta etc...
New IP's that introduce new gameplay and successfully battle through a gaming market that gives an edge to well known games like COD are always welcomed.
Quality over quantity and patience over haste.
SONY can buy Take2. If Take2 go under severe financial stress like a while back, expect SONY to be a hid bidder in taking Take2. However, i would think SONY would probably make some sort of arrangement to keep releasing 360 versions, while keeping the ps3 version significantly better.
This may be a possibility in the future as Take Two's performance hasnt been stellar as before.