Some have said that Take-Two Interactive is a one trick pony, heavily reliant on its Grand Theft Auto franchise to produce any sort of positive return. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick naturally refutes those claims and said that the publisher does not need an annual GTA release.
"We don't feel that GTA ought to be an annualized franchise," said Zelnick during an earnings call [thanks GI.biz]. "There's a balance between how long it takes to develop such an incredible title... and how long you wait for the [customer's] appetite to be both satisfied and whetted for the next title. That's something I think the company has done well."
While there hasn’t been a “major” entry for GTA in 2009, the release of two DLC expansions for Xbox 360 and Chinatown Wars for DS and PSP has signaled the franchise's expansion onto new platforms. "By bringing the title to handheld we achieved the highest Metacritic score ever for DS and PSP for that title,” noted Zelnick. “I applaud the team for doing that."
Zelnick noted that an unannounced “triple A-franchise” was being moved out of fiscal 2010 in order to optimize the company’s releases, noting that several key franchises, like BioShock, Mafia and Max Payne, are still set to release in 2010.
While the mysterious “triple A-franchise” could be the next major Grand Theft Auto title, it could just as easily be the next entry in the Manhunt, Midnight Club or Bully franchise given Zelnick's loose definition of the term.
1 Comments
December 5, 2009
They make a decent Basketball Game though over the years it's become less fun to play and still has a bunch of jaggies and blah blah blah. I have other complaints about it but forget it.