Given the rising cost of developing AAA games, more studios are seeing layoffs and even closures. This means that not only are we bound to see fewer games being released, but the number of companies willing to risk huge chunks of money to finance AAA games will also decrease.
This was something investment firm Baird wondered about as well, and something analyst Colin Sebastian asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick during the gaming giant’squarterly earnings call. Based on Zelnick’s response, it’s not something they are overly concerned with, given he believes Take-Two as a whole is well-positioned going forward. In Zelnick’s eyes, they have the best collection of owned intellectual property (IP) in all of gaming.
Take-Two Boss Strauss Zelnick Says They Have the Best IPs In Video Games
Today, we find ourselves the No. 2 pure play in the industry worldwide, and we think we’re incredibly well-positioned going forward, first because of our strategy of trying to be the most creative, innovative, and efficient company in the entertainment business. And secondly, because we have this extraordinarily diverse portfolio that covers all bases in the interactive entertainment industry, driven by owned intellectual property.
In fact, we’re pretty sure we have the best collection of owned intellectual property in the business. We think that’s a recipe for success. If we get it right, our earnings power should enable us to grow further. And what we’ve always said is we’ve used our capital first to support organic growth; secondly, selectively to support accretive inorganic growth; and third, to return capital to the shareholders on favorable terms.
The Reason Grand Theft Auto 5’s DLC Was Cancelled Probably Won’t Surprise You
An ex-Rockstar developer has revealed why the leaked ‘Agent Trevor’ DLC never saw the light of day, but the reason isn’t exactly surprising.
With Take-Two Interactive home to such notable studios such as Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto,Red Dead Redemption), 2K Games (NBA 2K, Borderlands, WWE 2K), and a lot more, it’s hard to argue with Zelnick’s statement. That said, with Microsoft now owning Activison-Blizzard, the Call of Duty franchise alongside Blizzard’s host of gaming franchises could rival that of Take-Two’s, and that’s not even counting Bethesda’s properties.
But in terms of 1:1 gaming properties, there’s no denying that Take-Two has the biggest one of ‘em all in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It’s probably the only series in existence that Activision’sCall of Dutywon’t want to go head-on against. Speaking of GTA, at the same earnings call, Take-Two revealed that Grand Theft Auto 5has now sold 205 million unitsto date.
In case you’ve been living under a rock the past year, Rockstar has set its sights on 2025 as the year we’ll see Grand Theft Auto 6 be released. It might be safe to say that more records will be broken once it’s out, and much like its predecessor, expect it to sell for years to come.
Grand Theft Auto 5
WHERE TO PLAY
GTA 6 Should Build On The Storytelling Of GTA 4, Not GTA V
Niko Bellic’s story proves that GTA has more to it than pop references and cheap laughs.
