Mafia II Might Be a Disappointment for Take Two

A video game analyst has declared that Mafia II might turn out to be a disappointment for publisher Take Two but that it's upcoming financial report will be positive because of the continuing popularity of the Western open world game Red Dead Redemption.

Michael Pachter, who is an analyst watching the video game industry for Wedbush Morgan, has stated, “Mafia II’s average Metacritic score of 74 is well below expectations, and consumer interest appears to be waning, as the game’s position has dropped in many best-seller lists in its first week. With six years in development, we believe the game is unlikely to achieve profitability.”

The analyst believes that the company culture at Take Two, which is tolerant of delays for its big titles as long as they will lead to an increase in quality when the game finally launches, needs to chance in order for it to see constant profits.

Recently Take Two has announced that the new Max Payne will not be arriving in 2010 and rumors are appearing that L.A. Noire, a game which has been in development since at least 2005, will also be pushed back again.

Pachter says, “It is important to note that both games have been in development for longer than five years, making their break-even hurdles significantly higher than a typical game. With longer development cycles, Take-Two has a profitability threshold higher than its peers.”

Red Dead Redemption was a hit when it came out in May and performed very well in June as well, with Rockstar working on creating and launching more downloadable content for its Western epic.

The Liars and Cheats Pack is set to arrive on September 21 and will offer players more multiplayer modes, more characters to play as, Poker and dice in all game modes and a new weapon to use while using new gang hideouts.