14 DAY TRIAL // Take Two has been, for the better part of 2008, subject to a hostile takeover launched by Electronic Arts, a publisher that seeks to acquire new assets under the leadership of its Chief Executive Officer, John Riccitiello. But Strauss Zelnick, the chairman of the board of Take Two, still says that he would hug his opponent if he met him.
In an interview with Venture Beat Zelnick talked about how his company chose to focus on creating and launching a limited number of high quality titles rather than trying to flood the market with a lot of games that have little impact and little staying power. He boasted that Take Two had "the highest average ratings of any third-party publisher". He also mentioned that "We won 50 'game of the year' awards for BioShock. Take-Two/Rockstar's 'Grand Theft Auto IV' is the highest rated game ever. It had perfect scores in everything except Microsoft's publication, which gave it a 95 out of 100".
This is true but Zelnick chooses to ignore the fact that the way videogames are reviewed and the way they are marketed makes titles receive excellent scores from critics this week only to be replaced by another blockbuster in the minds of gamers the next one. A truly creative approach would strive to create games that stay with the gamer community for more than a month, continuing to generate praise and revenue even after a while.
He spoke positively about the future of the GTA franchise by saying that the game was delayed to make sure that it was the best that Rockstar could deliver and that the same philosophy that emphasizes quality would be enforced in the future.
He also commented on Electronic Arts' hostile takeover bid by saying that Take Two is a successful company at the moment and does not need help from the outside to provide more value to the shareholders.