Strauss-Zelnick
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'BioShock' series lives on with help from the second game's dev team
The news that BioShock and BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games was winding down was a punch to the gut for many last year, but it turns out there is a bit of silver lining. The franchise will live on with developer 2K Marin, the studio that handled BioShock 2, according to GameSpot. Someone at the Cowen and Company analyst conference apparently made a remark that the BioShock series hadn't quite reached its commercial potential yet, and Take-Two Interactive head Strauss Zelnick agreed, saying that the NorCal team would be responsible for its "shepherding going forward." BioShock 2 did pretty okay critically and commercially, but many (including myself) felt its tour through Rapture was little more than a retread and that it lacked the first game's magic. With how Infinite ended, it's anyone's guess where the series' fiction could wind up next.
Take-Two: Red Dead is 'permanent,' BioShock stays with 2K Marin
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick noted Red Dead among the company's "permanent franchises" at the Cowen and Company's Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week. "It's obvious that GTA is a permanent franchise as long as we keep delivering this incredible quality; it seems quite obvious that Red Dead is a permanent franchise, again with the same caveat," he said. The Rockstar Games-developed series has two entries: 2004's Red Dead Revolver and 2010's Red Dead Redemption, and the CEO's phrasing strongly indicates that another Red Dead game is on the way. "But not everything is going to be a permanent franchise," Zelnick added. "We can do very well even if it's not. I would like to see us grow with a couple more great franchises in the next couple years and we're launching Evolve, we have very high hopes for that." Zelnick also commented on the BioShock series, saying the publisher thinks it is "beloved, we think it's important [and] certainly something that we're focused on, something 2K Marin will be responsible for shepherding going forward." 2K Marin suffered layoffs in October following the launch of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, prior to reports that the studio was on the verge of shuttering entirely. The developer launched BioShock 2 in 2010 between the two entries created by the Ken Levine-led studio Irrational Games. Irrational downsized to a small team of 15 in February, at which point Levine said the developer was "handing the reins of our creation, the BioShock universe, to 2K so our new venture can focus entirely on replayable narrative." [Image: Take-Two]
NBA 2K Online reaches 19 million registered ballers in China
While Take-Two was busy counting its fat stacks of cash following its healthy fiscal 2014 financial report, it also noted milestones in its collaborative efforts overseas. Namely, CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed during the company's call with investors today that "usage and player engagement with NBA 2K Online continued to gain momentum, and it's now the number one PC online sports game in China with 19 million registered users." NBA 2K Online was announced in June 2009 as one of Take-Two's major pushes into the Asian market. Arriving in October 2012, the game is a free-to-play basketball simulation for PC that features every licensed NBA team. It is the result of a partnership between Take-Two and Tencent, a developer with experience in crafting free-to-play versions of popular properties suited for the Chinese market, including Monster Hunter Online for Capcom and FIFA Online 3 for EA. [Image: Tencent Games]
Rockstar promising next-gen release this fiscal year
During today's record-revenue Take-Two financial call, CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged the significant contribution of Rockstar Games and the 33 million units shipped of Grand Theft Auto 5, while teasing an unannounced release from the company. "We're excited about what [Rockstar] have in store for the new generation of systems this fiscal year," said Zelnick, not providing any further clarification throughout the rest of the hour-long conference call. The company's fiscal year will conclude in March, 2015. This more than likely just refers to a next-gen facelift for GTA 5, but we're going to push logic and reason aside for a moment to wish on a star for Red Dead Redemption 2 (Redder Deader Redemption) on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Heck, we'd even take a new Rockstar Table Tennis on Wii U.
Take-Two makes it rain $1 billion more in fiscal 2014
Take-Two reported net revenue of $2.35 billion for fiscal 2014 (the year ending March 31, 2014), a 94 percent growth from its reported revenue of $1.21 billion in 2013. It also reported a net income of $361.7 million, which compares rather favorably to the net loss of $31.2 million it suffered last year. As of the end of fiscal 2014, Take-Two had "cash and cash equivalents of $935.4 million," plenty to make it rain a few times. As for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Take-Two's net revenue was $195.2 million, a 34.8 percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year ($299.5 million). It also reported a net loss of $30.8 million for the quarter, which compares to the net gain of $21.2 million reported in Q4 2013. The publisher's digitally-delivered revenue increased 65 percent year-over-year to $435.1 million on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). In its earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that Grand Theft Auto Online was the "single largest contributor" to the company's digital revenue growth. Take-Two also reported that it has shipped 33 million copies of GTA 5 to date. Looking ahead to the next fiscal year (ending March 31, 2015), Take-Two projects its non-GAAP net revenue to fall between $1.35 billion and $1.45 billion, and anticipates its net revenue between $120 million and $135 million for the next quarter, also on a non-GAAP basis.
2K's Zelnick: 70% of connected GTA5 players play GTA Online
Over 70 percent of players fired up Grand Theft Auto 5's multiplayer GTA Online component in the months after the game's initial release, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Fox Business in an interview this week. "Just a few years ago when we put out a product, no matter how big, when we put out a hit we collected our money, we went onto the next," Zelnick said, addressing GTA Online's microtransaction-driven revenue model. "Now what we're finding is we're creating recurrent consumer spending and we have the gift that keeps on giving. I talked about that when we took over Take-Two six years ago. It's nice to see it coming true." Grand Theft Auto 5 shipped 32.5 million units worldwide as of February, and earned over $1 billion in revenue during its three days at retail. Developer Rockstar Games continues to support GTA Online with frequent content updates, and a new job creation system is set to launch this Friday. [Image: Rockstar]
Take-Two bid adieu to Icahn, three board seats for $203.5 million
Tuesday 26 November 800 lbs. lighter after getting rid of Carl Icahn and his three boys (including that iCahn mini) from the board. It's gonna be trans-fat and pasta tonight, I'm tellin' you. Food consumed today: What. Ever. I. Want. Boom! Morning in the 36-degree city that never sleeps. But I slept well last night. Stood on my balcony as the sun was rising, took the top off my silk pajamas and let the energy of the universe fill me. I couldn't be happier Diary, Three years after washing up in my board room, it's time to say goodbye to Carl Icahn and his flotsam. It wasn't cheap either, Di. It cost $203.5 million to clean them up, which was the purchase of 12.02 million shares of stock at $16.93. Not a bad return for Carl, who bought the stock at around $8 a share in late 2009. "With our ample cash and strong expected cash flow, we are able to pursue a variety of investment opportunities, including repurchasing our Company's stock," I said, officially. But, honey, you should have seen the crown I was wearing while I said it. "On behalf of our board and management team, I would like to thank Brett, James and Sung for their support, dedication and service to our organization. They leave Take-Two better positioned than ever for continued success." ...Now, get out.
Take-Two CEO: MMOs don't work in the US
The good news: Take-Two Interactive chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick says that the company that brought you BioShock, Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption, and the GTA series is "actively investing in online and MMOs." The bad news: He adds, "We're just not doing it in the U.S." Speaking at the Cowen and Company Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Thursday, Zelnick reinforces what he believes many studios are learning the hard way, "MMOs don't work here. A couple of our competitors have found out that through very, very expensive lessons. One of our competitors just recently announced they're restarting an MMO project." Take-Two is, instead, aiming at the Asian MMO market through partnerships with industry leaders such as Tencent and Nexon. This is where the company hopes to be successful in the genre, as Zelnick cites "10 to 20" MMOs are successful in that market. [Thanks to Avaloner81 for the tip!]
Take-Two appoints COO Karl Slatoff as president
Tuesday 7 May ? ? ? lbs. I never weigh myself on a day of celebration. Food consumed today: King Crab Legs in a bucket, like a boss! Late afternoon. New York. Manhattan. Red Lobster in Times Square. Dearest Diary, It's been ever so long, but I must put emotion to paper. I'm writing this from a men's room stall at Red Lobster because I couldn't hold it in any longer. Don't be vulgar, Di! I mean my emotion! The 8-K filing went public today, and it says Karl Slatoff is now president at Take-Two and I just had to tell you. Karl's been my chief operating officer since 2010 (when I became CE-O-O-Oh yeah!) and it was about time for him to take on another "newly created role" like last time. And since Karl is a kingly name, and heavy is my head that wears the crown, I figured we should go for king crab at Red Lobster. "But they don't serve king crab at Red Lobster, only snow crab," you say. True, but Karl and I – to honor the heritage of our first names – dressed up as Bavarian tourists in full lederhosen and we had a bucket of king crab legs served that I had flown in from Alaska this morning. The cook was quite amenable to the idea after I gave him an early copy of Grand Theft Auto 5. Anyway, next week we announce Take-Two's full-year financial results and between Borderlands 2, XCOM, our sports games and GTA at the end of this year, I'm thinking Karl and I can play German tourist more often. Promise to write to you more, Streusel
Take-Two doesn't expect its budgets to grow significantly with next-gen
Here's another good thing about this current console generation lasting as long as it has: it appears to have reduced fears over next-gen budgets, at least among some parts of the industry. Current-gen budgets have had quoted with ranges between $15 million for BioShock and $44 million for God of War 3, but Take-Two isn't planning for the next-gen of consoles – expected later this year – to be wildly different from current costs."We don't have any reason to believe our development budget will change significantly," said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on a financial call today. "If anything, we've become, group wide, much tighter in how we spend our money. It has been the challenge and we've been very focused on it. We can't say specifically, but, no, we don't expect to see a meaningful change in what it costs us to release these top quality products."Then again, it's hard to put next-gen budgets into perspective when you're the publisher of Grand Theft Auto 5. If the game's launch on September 17 incurs anything like Grand Theft Auto 4 or Red Dead Redemption's marketing, you'll have to take a trip to the Andes to avoid it.
Grand Theft Auto franchise up to 125 million shipped, GTA 4 at 25m
125 million copies of Grand Theft Auto games have shipped to retailers, with a fifth of that figure represented by Grand Theft Auto 4, in at 25 million. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick announced the franchise's new milestone at this year's Credit Suisse Technology Conference. GameSpot later confirmed it with a Take Two representative, who also disclosed the figure for GTA 4.That means Take Two shipped 3 million copies of GTA 4 in the last 14 months, and 11 million franchise units. According to Zelnick, it's the irregular scheduling that maintains the series' popularity. Zelnick cited his understanding that Call of Duty Black Ops 2 is performing poorer commercially than Modern Warfare 3."That's never been the case with one of ours," said Zelnick. "Ours do better each time. Our view is it's hard to make permanent intellectual properties if you annualize it, with the exception of sports titles. So far that's proven to be the case. IP that is annualized eventually seems to hit the wall and we don't want our IP to hit the wall."For the record, Activision recently announced Black Ops 2 made $500 million on its first day at retail, up from the $400 million for Modern Warfare 3.
Take-Two investor call theme: Where's Grand Theft Auto 5?
The first half of Take-Two's question and answer session, during today's first quarter investor call, revolved around the theme of Grand Theft Auto 5 and its current status. Whether directly or indirectly, three questions in a row tried to eke out any details about the game, which appears to be part of the publisher's high revenue projections but still has an official "TBA" release date."Strauss, we've heard nothing, next to nothing, on GTA 5 development over the last couple months," said Mike Hickey of National Alliance Securities. "We've seen a couple screenshots. The game is believed by the street to be implied by your guidance for this fiscal year, but what believability do we have that this game is actually going to come out this year?"CEO Strauss Zelnick responded, "We haven't talked about a release date. So obviously we can't talk about the credibility of a release date that we haven't announced."Pushed further on whether the publisher is receiving consistent updates, the CEO deflected."We wouldn't talk publicly about the way we communicate with our teams internally," replied Zelnick. "We are blessed to be in business with the Rockstar folks and everyone knows that I feel that way. We have the best creative teams in the business across our company."Though the company did announce today that "consumer anticipation is phenomenal" for Borderlands 2, it would still need to hit home runs with NBA 2K13, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and BioShock: Infinite to hit its forecast.
Take-Two's Zelnick 'skeptical' of Wii U, not of next generation
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said he was "skeptical" of the Wii U in a recent interview with Gamasutra. He noted that Take-Two hasn't announced any games for the platform.Zelnick talked about the strategy he believes a company like Take-Two should follow. In regards to new console launches, he said that "if you get it right, it's a terrific time to launch a new IP." He also spoke against annualizing non-sports games, so as not to risk "burning out the consumer," which echoed statements he made in late 2009."Some of our competitors have had this trajectory where they extract a lot of value and the IP goes away. We're trying really hard to build permanent IP. And if you have to rest the title for a few years, over time you'll extract more value," he said. "We're not trying to create something good and market the hell out of it. We're trying to delight customers with something great – and market hell out of it."
THQ: Take-Two CEO's perception is 'outdated'
THQ has contacted Joystiq with a response to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick's dire prediction from this afternoon: "Obviously, Mr. Zelnick's perception of THQ is outdated and inaccurate. His comments are irresponsible and false. Perhaps he would be better off commenting on his own business."
'THQ won't be around in six months,' says Take-Two CEO Zelnick
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke plainly today at the MIT Business in Gaming conference about the differences between his company's strategy on core game development and that of the floundering THQ."THQ's strategy was licensed properties, first and foremost. License stuff from other people, whether it's UFC or WWE or a motion picture property, and make a game around that," Zelnick said, noting Take-Two hasn't had the best year either, but a good five-year run. "And our approach, since we took over the company, is 100 percent owned intellectual property."Zelnick stated licensed properties -- something he has avoided in his career -- leaves publishers at the mercy of license holders. Even if a publisher does a great job on a property, it will have to renegotiate the license in a few years and the margins will decrease because it's being charged more money for a brand it built up in the space. Zelnick noted THQ did partially change its strategy a few years back regarding owned intellectual strategy, but it's hard to do that overnight."The most important difference is quality. Take-Two has the highest quality ratings among third-party publishers, according to Metacritic and most people in the industry. Quality really, really, really matters. THQ has had some good games, but their quality levels aren't even remotely ... the quality hasn't measured up.""Strategy didn't work and the execution was bad. To put it another way: the food was no good and the portions were small." Zelnick closed his comparison of the two companies by saying, "THQ won't be around in six months."Update: THQ responds.
Take-Two's Zelnick thinks Zynga metrics are 'sketchy'
Wednesday 30 November 185 lbs of Ba-Zynga bashing awesomeness. Food consumed today: Nothing. I'm being fueled by music. Specifically, one song: "Eye of the Tiger." It's on repeat and nothing is gonna get in my way. Afternoon. It's brisk in NYC and I'm bringing the heat to Zynga. If that bubble won't pop on its own, I might as well start passing around a bottle of wake-up juice!
Zelnick planning on more Duke Nukem, figuring out tablet gaming
Tuesday 21 June I've had all scales removed from Take-Two HQ since becoming CEO. I have too much work to do and I can't be checking my buffness at every water fountain and copy machine (all of which had scale attachments). I do still check it after workouts and after a good cry, when I consume a pint of Chunky Monkey while reading Duke Nukem Forever reviews. Food consumed today: Don't know, trying to stay relaxed and groovy as CEO. Get in touch with my inner artist. Do I eat? Did I eat? Am I eating now? I don't know and I'm trying not to care. Morning. The light glistened off the Chrysler Building in such a magnificent way I grabbed a street artist to paint me a picture of it. New York.
LA Noire is 'a powerful new franchise' for Take-Two
During this afternoon's Take-Two investor call, CEO Strauss Zelnick said that though he wasn't interested in comparing every new intellectual property to the "extraordinary success of Red Dead Redemption," Rockstar's latest has all the makings of a key franchise. "We have every reason to believe L.A. Noire is another strong franchise for this company," Zelnick said. "No matter how you slice it, it's a very successful release and to be able to say that again is extraordinary." Of course, Rockstar's many successes colored much of the call, from the announcement that Red Dead Redemption has now sold over 8.5 million units to the news that Rockstar's core creatives have renewed their employment contracts. "And if it needs to be said, this management team is just immensely grateful to Rockstar for delivering another superb title," Zelnick reiterated to investors. "One can never take that for granted. The hit ratio for this group is nothing short of extraordinary." When asked about downloadable content plans for L.A. Noire, Zelnick predictably side-stepped the question -- "We'll leave it to Rockstar to announce" any plans, he said -- but he again said that L.A. Noire is a "powerful new franchise" for Take-Two. Earlier in the call, Zelnick defined Take-Two's strategy, saying, "the core of which is to produce and distribute a select number of triple-A titles and support them with add-on content distributed both on disc and digitally." He continued, "Add-on content generally produces incremental revenue and profits and keeps gamers engaged with our titles for longer periods of time, thereby extending the life of the product, increasing the value of the brand, and ultimately converting it into a franchise." Following this math, L.A. Noire is going to need some more add-on content before it can really claim that "franchise" moniker ... So how about getting on the horn with the good people at Roger Rabbit Licensing, Inc.? No price is too high!
NBA 2K11 is 2K Sports' best-selling game ever
During an investor call today, Take-Two revealed just how nice a season NBA 2K11 has had without competition from an EA Sports' basketball sim. Hint: Really nice. "NBA 2K11 has now sold in nearly 4 million units since launching in early October," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said during the call, "and has become the best-selling title in the history of both our basketball franchise and 2K Sports." ("Sold in," of course, refers to shipments to retailers, rather than actual purchases by consumers.) It would be irresponsible to attribute all of the game's success to the fact that EA canceled NBA Elite 11, leaving NBA 2K11 (pretty much) unopposed in the market. 2K11 was quite well-received by critics on its own. But it would be even more irresponsible to pretend the cancellation had nothing to do with the increase in 2K11 sales.
Take-Two records $1.16 billion in revenue over last fiscal year, regains profitability
Take-Two Interactive, publisher of this year's Red Dead Redemption and Civilization V, among others, today announced net revenue earnings of $1.16 billion for the 12 months ending October 31, 2010, a 65-percent growth over the previous fiscal year's revenues. In all, after operating expenses and taxes, Take-Two earned $42.6 million in profit for the year -- quite a turnaround from the $140.5 million hole (read: net loss) it dug itself last fiscal year. Software sales slump, what now? In its fourth quarter alone (August–October), Take-Two brought in $373.7 million in revenue, roughly 32 percent more than in the same period in 2009, working out to $53.8 million in income for the close-out quarter. "We have achieved our goal of profitability in a year without a new release of Grand Theft Auto," boasted soon to be ex-CEO Ben Feder, citing Red Dead Redemption and NBA 2K11, "as well as strong sales of catalog titles and digitally-delivered content," as key to the publisher's success. Take-Two is currently in the midst of a five-month "transition period," having changed its fiscal calendar to now begin April 1 (instead of Nov. 1). Chairman Strauss Zelnick said the company will be focused on "newer areas of the interactive entertainment business, such as digitally-delivered content and the expanding Asian and Latin American markets" through the end of 2010.
