GTA Facebook Bound? Social Is About 'Building Bridges' for AAA Titles, says Take-TwoFacebook gaming continues to grow, and the traditional publishers are getting more and more involved. Even Activision Blizzard, which for the longest time ignored social, is now working on Facebook. And while Take-Two has not been prolific on Facebook like EA, the publisher did just launch Civilization World into open beta on the social network a couple weeks ago. Take-Two COO Karl Slatoff told IndustryGamers that this is just the beginning of a larger strategy that sees the social and traditional game spaces converging somewhat.
"So to us it’s about building bridges - building bridges to engage and expand our audience base for our existing triple-A franchises."
"I think you’re going to see a little bit more out of that title in terms of converging the two worlds. I do think as the platforms get more sophisticated, there will be some convergence," Slatoff began. "But as of now, our strategy as it relates to social networks... I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we are platform agnostic and we are focused on compelling, engaging triple-A experiences. So [we believe in the experience] where you sort of sit forward and you’re playing for hours and you’re really engaged in it, and we’re going to develop for every platform - even if it’s an online platform - that can support that kind of experience. To date, social networks have not really been able to support that kind of experience. At least we haven’t seen that kind of iteration."
So what does that mean for Take-Two and social gaming? Essentially, the publisher wants to use the space to open up its IP to a larger audience. After all, 750 million people on Facebook is quite a wide net.
"So for us, it’s a very interesting space. It’s an ability for us to build an audience for our franchises potentially, and if we can push the edge of those platforms, which we’re known to do - I mean we’re constantly pushing - what can we do on the platform? What more can the platform do? How can we push it using our intellectual property? You’re going to see us doing that. And I think with Civilization World...it does take things to a new level. So to us it’s about building bridges - building bridges to engage and expand our audience base for our existing triple-A franchises. And if we can make a few bucks in the meantime, that’s fantastic," he said.
Does that mean we're destined to see BioShock, GTA or some other hot Take-Two property on Facebook? Slatoff didn't say, but we certainly wouldn't be surprised.
