14 DAY TRIAL // When games become popular, they quickly turn into series, and when these prove to be at least close in success to the original titles, new installments are added as soon as possible. A good example of such a series is Call of Duty that had Activision and the developers involved with the project spill into the world yearly additions to the franchise. The more, the merrier, and the one thing that publishers rely on is that, along the series, at least one game will be good enough to carry on its back all the other ones as well, in spite of their actual quality.
While Activision had nu problem imposing this trade, Take-Two Interactive, in spite of its grimmer financial situation, doesn't believe that quantity can be chosen over quality. And with several big names under its ownership, the company has a bit of a financial letdown with its “less games” policy. During an investors meeting held today, an investment analyst asked Take-Two CEO Ben Feder and Chairman Strauss Zelnick if the company was expected to be unprofitable in the years between GTA releases.
Zelnick replied that, “We're certainly not saying we can't be profitable in a non-GTA year. We don't feel that GTA ought to be an annualized franchise.” Still, when there is a “GTA year,” the company does a lot better. The company released last year the highly acclaimed GTA IV, and the title was followed by two expansions, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Soon after, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS and PSP followed, as well as the downloadable episodes of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.
The main argument that Zelnick made was that, “A balance between how long it takes to develop such an incredible title and meet consumer expectations and how long you need to make sure that an appetite has been both satisfied and whetted for the next franchise.” He further added that, “That's something I think the company has historically done rather well and I think the high profitability and resiliency of the franchise reflects that. I wouldn't see that changing.” And this is a good thing for gamers. Anyone would rather have fewer games to play, but genuinely good ones, instead of being flooded with low-quality titles.