14 DAY TRIAL // Take Two is a pretty popular game publisher, holding development studios such as Rockstar or 2K Games under its "umbrella." Owning such studios has helped the company gain access to very successful franchises like Grand Theft Auto IV or Bioshock, not to mention the wide range of sports games from the 2K Sports division.
Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take Two, has recently spoken at a worldwide conference about where the gaming industry focus would shift in the following years. He went on to tackle subjects like DLC (Downloadable Content) and subscription services for quality games that will produce a steady stream of income after the full game is released.
He exemplified his statements using Grand Theft Auto IV and Bioshock, two very popular titles that will receive a batch of DLC, for two individual platforms, this holiday season. The Xbox 360 will get two rumored episodes that will take the story of GTA IV further and develop it in new ways, and the PlayStation 3 will receive new challenge rooms for 2K's popular underwater shooter, Bioshock.
"Looking ahead, the biggest opportunity that we see for the industry as well as for us is downloadable content. With Grand Theft Auto IV we will be offering downloadable episodes that gamers can buy on Xbox Live after they've purchased the original title. We've also [mentioned] that next week we will be releasing add on content worldwide for Bioshock. And these are our first offerings for downloadable content. We're excited about the creative opportunity. We are very excited about the profit potential and we'll see how these things roll out. I think the entire industry is focused in this area."
A very interesting statement, but sadly, Zelnick then went on saying that subscription services would surely play an important role in the development of future games, hinting that only quality titles would require that players pay a monthly fee for new content. This statement has made fans worry that the company, which is in a bit of trouble at the stock market, might add some sort of subscription system into other games that would be published.
Let's just hope that Take Two will make the right decision for the average gamer, and if it implements subscriptions, hopefully they will enhance the game in such a way that it will all be worth it.