Manhunt 2 controversy may boost sales
The AP reports that the decision to suspend the distribution of Manhunt 2 may actually help sales by boosting curiosity of gamers who will want to see what all the drama was about. Well, duh! Speaking with analysts, the AP says that the controversy will benefit the game in the long run. Of course, they couldn't get anyone from Take-Two or Rockstar to go on the record about that -- welcome to the club AP.
"It's free publicity," says Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets. Rick Munarriz, a senior analyst from The Motley Fool said, "If anything, with this suspension there's going to be a demand for it because of the controversy." Also, Take-Two's stock went up Friday by 21 cents. With no announcement of cancellation, especially with Take-Two's CEO calling it a work of art, looks like Manhunt 2 will come back out of the gate with an M rating and a heck of a lot more free publicity in a few months. Meanwhile, Take-Two and Rockstar are poised to do a one-two punch with GTA IV, which is still on track for its October release.
