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Take-Two Aims For A New IP Annually
Industry behemoth Take-Two has proven their grit time and time again, growing reputable franchises and establishing new ones with regularity. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Vice President of Corporate Communications Alan Lewis took an introspective look at one of the more prominent misconceptions about the company – that GTA release years are the only ones that drive profit.
Laundry listing other successful Take-Two properties immediately dispels the notion. Lewis revealed to Gamasutra that over 17 franchises under the Take-Two umbrella have surpassed a million units in sales, with an admirable eight bringing in over five million.
The commendable track record is indicative of quality, and quality is a byproduct of time. Time, however, is also the easiest scapegoat to pin unstable investor shares on – as is high production costs and what is perceived as frequent delays by the company.
Are these delays necessary? Rockstar’s most recent endeavor – Red Dead Redemption – was delayed from April 27 to May 18th – and was greeted with critical and commercial success.
“The title had moved, as people know, and I think if you look at the quality of the game and what it's doing in the market, the fact is that it illustrates that to make a great game, sometimes you need to give the developers ample time to make something great,” Lewis tells Gamasutra. “We certainly feel like it was worth the additional time that was put in. Not only the quality, but the consumer response has shown us it is worthwhile to do that.” Lewis continues on to point out that game development will never be an exact science, and is far from an assembly line.
The interview continues to discuss the gravity of game delays, illustrating that quality is of the utmost importance to Take-Two. Still, Lewis feels that there is room for improvement behind the scenes. Their ultimate goal?
“Every year we're going to try to introduce at least one new IP that we hope over the long term will work well for us,” Lewis concludes.
You can read the full interview here.
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