Some interesting news stories caught my eye last week but I did not piece them together until today.
Last week I saw this article reporting on Take-Two's Second Quarter revenue. Net revenue dropped $60 million when compared to the same period last year. Take-Two has been caught in a slew of legal issues since the nude patch was discovered in GTA: San Andreas, as well as questionable stock option practices. Recently management has gotten a face-lift, Take-Two closed their NY offices, and laid off a solid number of employees in Europe. I always found it amazing that the makers of such a huge franchise like GTA and 2K Games could be doing so poorly.
It was announced today that all of the episodic content for GTA IV will be exclusive to the Xbox 360. The episodic content will be released in 2008 and PS3 owners will be out of luck. I found this interesting because the GTA series had always come out on PlayStation first, and also I found it awesome since I own a 360. But tons of former PlayStation titles have become un-exclusive during this newest generation cycle, as PS3 sales are still waiting to take off. I just figured that Take-Two went with Microsoft because their online service is more sophisticated and has a much larger install base.
Then it was also revealed later today that Microsoft is paying Take-Two $50 million for the GTA IV: Episodic content exclusive rights. Coincidence at all? Sounds to me that Take-Two needed some cash and told Microsoft they could have exclusive rights, or vice verse.
But either way in the end it is I who wins again. Look for GTA IV to release on October 17th and a new trailer to debut on June 28th. Can't wait.
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