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During today's talk at the BMO Capital Market's conference, Take-Two head honcho Strauss Zelnick seemed very up on the idea of downloadable content, micro-transactions and even... subscriptions.
Strauss Zelnick, executive chairman of the board of directors at Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive, is in good shape. Good enough shape to be on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine, anyway, as his ripped forearms and healthy pecs grace the cover of the November issue.
Never let it be said Take-Two aren't focused on quality. They don't have the packed release schedule of companies like EA or Activision, but pound-for-pound, their games are amongst the best-regarded in the business. A strategy chairman Strauss Zelnick is very keen on, telling VentureBeat that quality will always win out over quantity:
In periods of high growth, like where we are now, B titles and C titles can do OK. But as soon as you get to the point where the platform penetration has reached its asymptote, then quality reins supreme. We think that if you focus on quality all along, regardless of where the market peak is, you will do better.
Explaining, perhaps, why T2's Wii catalogue isn't quite as robust as some other publisher's.
E3 perspective: Q&A with Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the future of Take-Two Interactive [VentureBeat]
Speaking at the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference, the square-Jawed and wonderfully-named Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick let rip on EA Sports, choosing his fight, and his words, super-carefully:
When we go head-to-head with 'Brand X' we out-rate them significantly...We outsell them when we go head-to-head. It's sort of an unheralded achievement. This is a tough business.
On one hand, he's right! 2K's basketball and hockey games are normally top-shelf, and they've got baseball to themselves. But the "head-to-head" bit...yeah, it's dancing around that elephant in the room. 2K don't have an NFL game in the US. They don't have a football game in Europe/Asia. That's like saying my 92 Corolla can take on a Ferrari head-to-head, so long as we're going off the number of wheels and doors and not, you know. Racing.
2K Sports unheralded against EA Sports, says Zelnick [GI.biz]
Would Take-Two ever consider setting Rockstar loose on the music game genre? Last night, during Take-Two's Q1 financial results call, Board chairman Strauss Zelnick addressed an analyst who asked exactly that, "given Rockstar's nature". I guess he meant, "as rockstars"?
Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive Chairman, may have enviable cheekbones and impressive compensation, but what he does not have is a grasp on the software issues surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV. With Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s locking up during GTA IV play sessions, a twelve step "fix" from Rockstar Games support and a host of anecdotal solutions that aren't yet a cure-all, you might wonder where Strauss has been this past week.
Take-Two Interactive had plenty to sing about today. There was the official word on BioShock 2, even more Carnival Games for little girls and boys to enjoy and a reaffirmation of Grand Theft Auto IV's worldwide ship date of April 29. Yay! Sure, there were some delays, but all in all, not bad. The best news? The company managed to only lose 38 million US bucks in its first fiscal quarter of 2008! That's better than the Take-Two gang had expected, with Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, saying he was "pleased". This is how you lose money, people—with a faint hint of a smile on your face.
Take-Two bigwig Strauss Zelnick may not be interested in selling the company to another buyer, but Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey says the publisher "will eventually be acquired at a meaningful premium to their current share price." Hickey values the Rockstar Games portfolio alone at about $US 1 billion, which doesn't even begin to cover the other big Take-Two intellectual properties—BioShock, Carnival Games, Civilization—all of which could make the company very attractive to buyers. Sure, it may involve a few headaches when Manhunt 3 kills some poor grandmother because it's just that dangerous, but you've gotta break a few eggs.
Hickey also points to "opportunities" in the GameDaily BIZ report, such as sequels to Red Dead Revolver, Max Payne and a theoretical Grand Theft Auto MMO as nice-to-haves. Maybe I'll just buy them and expense it.
Take-Two Acquisition Looming, Predicts Analyst [GameDaily.biz]
Take-Two? Not for sale. Back in March, current Chairman Strauss Zelnick led a group of investors in ousting the then Take-Two management. Strauss Zelnick has turned the company around! It's now efficient! Better yet, Strauss Zelnick is a super name! He's known for fixing up company companies and selling them off. This time is different. Strauss Zelnick explains:
I'm much more interested in growing the business than in selling it, to be clear. I would say for the next five to seven years this is a terrific time to be in the video game business.That's swell and all, but do you think Strauss Zelnick is his real name?
Take-Two Plans [Reuters]
In a conference call with investors earlier today, Take-Two execs Strauss Zelnick and Ben Feder explained the company's decision to delay Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. Zelnick chalked up the Q2 2008 push back to "almost strictly technological problems... not problems, but challenges." They said they were "highly confident" that the game will ship within its new release window.
Asked whether one console in particular was the root of the problem, Zelnick diplomatically responded that "I know there have been rumours in the marketplace about frame rate and some other issues. We don't think it's helpful or beneficial to go into exact details of what the technological issues are. We're pushing the envelope on both the platforms." Crap. Now I don't know which torch to light!
