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GTA5's radio station getting with the times on PC, PS4, Xbox One
A scenic route through Grand Theft Auto 5's Los Santos will open up on PS4, Xbox One and PC this fall, but we might not be stuck blasting the same old programs from our totally-legally-acquired rides. Cara Delevingne recently tweeted that she was "with @rockstargames to update my GTA[5] radio station Non Stop Pop FM" for this fall's ports, with Non Stop Pop being an adult contemporary station on GTA5's dial. Rockstar hasn't announced plans regarding radio content for the ports, so it's unclear whether we can hope for radio hosts other than Delevingne to swing by and freshen up their shows as well. We're still waiting on a specific date for our returning trip to the San Andreas area, but in the mean time you can compare trailers from the original release and the upcoming port. Or you could join us at shaking our heads over Lindsey Lohan's latest leading role in ... a lawsuit with Rockstar. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Rockstar: Lohan's GTA 5 lawsuit just Jonas-ing for publicity
Lindsay Lohan's Grand Theft Auto 5 lawsuit was "filed for publicity purposes" according to creator Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive. Lohan sued Rockstar and Take-Two for damages back in July over the in-game character of Lacey Jonas, a troubled young actress who struggles with an eating disorder and dealing with the paparazzi. The case claimed Lohan's image, voice and styles from her clothing label were all used to depict Jonas, forming an "unequivocal" reference to the Mean Girls star. As the Associated Press reports, Rockstar is having none of it. Manhattan court papers made public this week show Take-Two and its subsidiary not only want the suit dismissed, but the company wants Lohan to pay its legal fees. As far as Take-Two is concerned, Jonas only resembles Lohan in being a young, blonde woman.
Take-Two revenue drops 12% in Q1 2015
Take-Two reported $125.4 million in net revenue for the fiscal first quarter of 2015, a three-month period of time that ended on June 30. That represents a 12 percent decline compared to the same quarter last year ($142.7 million), and a 35.8 percent drop from the previous quarter. The publisher also reported a net loss of $35.4 million, a 14.9 percent jump from its $30.8 million losses reported last quarter. That also compares favorably to the same quarter one year ago, as Take-Two's reported losses are a 42.8 percent decrease from the $61.9 million losses for fiscal Q1 2014. The publisher also announced a delay for one of its major upcoming releases, Turtle Rock Studios' Evolve, which will now launch on February 10, 2015. [Image: Take-Two Interactive]
Evolve pushed back to February [Update]
The launch of Evolve has been delayed to 2015, Take-Two indicated in the company's fiscal first quarter 2015 financial report. The game will now launch globally on February 10, 2015. Evolve was previously expected to arrive on October 21. Evolve is Turtle Rock Studios' four-versus-one monster-hunting game for PS4, Xbox One and PC. In it, players team up with three friends to take down a large beast or can opt to take on the hunting party as the single monster. Our video preview of Evolve discusses the shooter's four character classes as well as its jetpacks and other tools that make the game's combat interesting. Update: Take-Two President Karl Slatoff said during the publisher's financial call that it "primarily decided the title deserves and should have more time to be polished so it can reach its absolute optimal state before we release it," and that "historically, we've benefited from giving the creative teams more time to polish the titles, we've never regretted it." Slatoff also stressed that he views the delay as not being a "meaningful amount of time," given that Evolve will still launch during Take-Two's fiscal year, and that February is a "pretty terrific" release window. "It's not at all crowded, and we will benefit from the fact that there are a lot of holiday sales of consoles. The install base will be bigger," Slatoff said. [Image: Take-Two]
In a parallel universe, BioShock Vita is a tactics game that's real
Ken Levine stoked laments for what could have been when he took to Twitter last night to discuss the now-fabled BioShock Vita game. When asked what he had in mind for his pet project that never got off the ground, the Irrational Games president said, "I was thinking a Final Fantasy Tactics-style thing set in a pre-fall Rapture." Well, damn.
Video compares Grand Theft Auto 5's PS3 and PS4 trailers
Sony introduced Grand Theft Auto 5 for PS4 with a brief trailer during its E3 2014 press conference last week, and now Digital Foundry created a video to compare it with similar footage from the game's PS3 version. Some of the side-by-side trailer's more stark contrasts include crashing waves, more animals moseying about and some instances of enhanced lighting and details on items like factories and vehicles in the PS4 version. GTA 5 may have been part of Sony's press event, but it will also launch on Xbox One and PC this fall after first arriving on PS3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013. Take-Two shipped 33 million copies of the game on the previous-generation systems as of mid-May. Aside from updated visuals, it will receive a video editing feature designed for "advanced movie-making" on PC. [Image: Rockstar Games]
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]
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 $135 million for the next quarter, also on a non-GAAP basis.
Capture new job creation tools in GTA Online this Friday
Rockstar will launch the capture jobs creation system in GTA Online this Friday, April 11 and is offering a rewards boost in select online missions until then. Starting Friday, Grand Theft Auto 5 players can use the GTA Online Creator Tool to build missions using one of four capture job variants: Contend, GTA, Hold or Raid. For those unfamiliar, Rockstar describes the capture jobs as a "GTA twist on classic capture the flag style confrontations." To get players accustomed to the job style's unique brand of action, the developer upped the reward levels for all official capture jobs in GTA Online. Until Friday, jobs like "GTA: All Abhorred" and "Raid: High Road" will earn players double the GTA$ and RP. [Image: Rockstar Games]
Exiting Irrational team shares its 'proudest' BioShock Infinite moments
Irrational Games, as we knew it, is closing its doors. As its final goodbye, the dev has released a short video featuring former employees discussing its "proudest moments" working on the studio's final project, BioShock Infinite, and the game's final DLC chapter. [Image: Irrational Games]
GTA Online giving you 'The Business' on March 4
Grand Theft Auto 5's "The Business Update" has been entered in the Excel sheet for a March 4 formulation on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. The update includes three new sports cars, two new guns (heavy pistol and special carbine, pictured), along with new clothing that's appropriate for the boardroom or the champagne room. This is also the last chance to get the items from the Valentine's Day Massacre Special, which will no longer be available this Sunday, March 2. So, get in gear, heartbreaker. [Image: Rockstar]
No murder, mo problems in BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Ep. 2's '1998 mode'
BioShock Infinite's next DLC offering, Burial at Sea - Episode 2, encourages players to step out of their comfort zone and rely solely on non-lethal tactics in 1998 mode. Avoiding mass murder in a BioShock game? That's just ... weird. Irrational Games says 1998 mode was borne from the testing phase where developers were self-imposing non-lethal playthroughs; the titular date is a callback to the original Thief game (nice timing!) and places "a focus on balance and stealth mechanics," says Ken Levine, creative director of Irrational Games. Burial at Sea - Episode 2 launches on March 25. Irrational Games was severely downsized last week and Ken Levine, its current creative director, announced he was forming a new outfit within publisher Take-Two Interactive. Support from the gaming community at large quickly followed, in both the form of the "#IrrationalJobs" hashtag on Twitter and local Boston studio Fire Hose Games, which has offered free desk space for any affected developers looking to go the indie route. [Image: Irrational Games]
BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 surfaces next month
BioShock Infinite plunges into the second episode of its DLC campaign Burial at Sea on March 25, a worldwide release date that's confirmed for Xbox 360, PS3, and Windows PC. The game's third major DLC will be priced $15, or you can get it via the $20 season pass that also covers the previous two add-ons. The news comes shortly after series creator Ken Levine revealed the second episode will last around "five, maybe six hours." As we noted in our spoiler-coated review, the first episode of the single-player campaign takes around two hours to complete. Talking of spoilers, there's a rather large one given away by a newly released Episode 2 screenshot - we'll just link to it here. Now it's up to you to keep your hands over your eyes and ears for the next seven or so weeks. [Image: Take-Two Interactive Software]
Borderlands 2 is 2K's highest selling game
Among all the highlights from Take-Two's financials yesterday comes confirmation that Borderlands 2 is now the highest-selling game in 2K Games' history, with over 8.5 million units shipped to date. That's another million on top of last year's figure, which had the game tracking to be king of 2K mountain. And yes, more content is still planned for Borderlands 2. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, we imagine the folks of Pandora will give each other boxes of guns, 'cause you never know what you're gonna get. [Image: 2K Games]
Grand Theft Auto 5 ships 32.5 million copies
The total number of Grand Theft Auto 5 copies Take-Two has shipped to date now exceeds 32.5 million. The number comes from the company's fiscal third quarter 2014 earnings report, in which it declared its money-making game the "best-selling video game of 2013," citing data from NPD. By comparison, the publisher also noted the entire NBA 2K series has shipped 35 million units to date. The number of copies shipped by Take-Two doesn't precisely indicate the number sold to customers, of course. GTA 5 has sold well regardless, earning an estimated $1 billion for the publisher in its first three days at retail. It sold 3.67 million copies at retail in the UK in 2013, leading all games in the region.
2K Czech shake-up, resources shifted to US
2K Czech, home of the Mafia series, is being restructured, a fancy business term equatable to how mob movies end with a bunch of bodies and a few survivors. Eurogamer reports 2K Czech will shut down its Prague office – where Mafia 3 was rumored to be in development – with the remainder being centralized in Brno (location of the other 2K Czech studio) and "transferring some development resources" to 2K headquarters in Novato, California. "This transition will both strengthen the integration of the 2K Czech team with our award winning development teams, and better align cross-functional business practices. As part of this realignment, we are adjusting our staffing levels, resulting in the elimination of some positions," Eurogamer was told in a statement by 2K. Eurogamer also reports "10 key developers from 2K Czech are also said to have been relocated" to Novato. The obvious conclusion is it has something to do with whatever former Epic and Irrational development head Rod Fergusson is up to with his new 2K studio.
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 files 'Bully Bullsworth Academy' trademark in Europe [Update]
Take-Two recently filed another trademark related to Rockstar's Bully property in Europe. Titled "Bully Bullworth Academy: Canis Canem Edit," the trademark was filed just a few days ago, on November 20. The publisher filed another Bully-related trademark in July with the USPTO. Rockstar first developed Bully for PS2 in 2006, following it up with enhanced versions for Wii, PC and Xbox 360 in 2008. The latest trademark refers to the original game's New England boarding school setting, Bullworth Academy, which offers a stronger suggestion that Take-Two is doing more than just protecting the Rockstar property. Update: As a point of clarification, since Bully launched as Canis Canem Edit in Europe, the trademark may also refer to a re-release of the original game.
BioShock Infinite: 'Burial at Sea Part One' review: That sinking feeling
This is a review of downloadable content for BioShock Infinite. As such, it may contain spoilers for the main campaign. Ham-fisted is one of my favorite expressions. As a term meaning awkward or graceless, it's wonderfully evocative. You can easily imagine someone desperately trying to shove a ham somewhere it was never meant to go, perhaps into a Volkswagen's gas tank. Or you might picture a fist literally made of ham: two indelicate things, indelicately smashed together It's also a good fit for the first episode of BioShock Infinite's 'Burial at Sea' DLC, which is aggressive, salty and often clumsy.
