Take Two's Zelnick Proud of His Work

Take-Two Interactive executive chairman, Strauss Zelnick, has claimed that his current business model for the company would be to remain independent. An offer like that from Electronic Arts, valued at around 2 billion dollars, would not be sufficient for a buyout and interest from other companies has not yet materialized in clear offers.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Zelnick, who has his own investment company, ZelnickMedia, declared the video game industry as "the only growth area in the pure entertainment business". He said there was a creative potential in the games industry that surpassed the creative potential seen in other media oriented areas, like the movie or the record industry. He said patterns of consumption were changing towards smaller bite-sized entertainment experiences and that the games industry, of which Take Two is part, is uniquely positioned to take advantage of that change.

Asked whether he saw value in further consolidation of the video games industry, Zelnick stated that more high profile mergers and takeovers would be seen in the future. "I'd rather not speculate on the nature of value creation", he said. "It has a lot to do with the capabilities of individuals and the goals of employees. This is not just a math lesson, this is a creative enterprise. Does consolidation create better games for consumers? Does it create better careers for the creatives? Those questions are just as important". It's interesting that Zelnick sees a continuation of consolidation even as his own actions point out to a new approach, in which companies tend to refuse takeover bids and work to increase their worth and provide better value to the shareholders.

He added: "We've been at Take-Two only for 10 months and are really proud of the progress we've made. And we think this company has a really bright future as an independent company. In the absence of an opportunity that our shareholders value more than this approach, that's our business model". With Electronic Arts still thinking of its next move regarding Take Two, it remains to be seen how things will play out.