14 DAY TRIAL // Rockstar is certainly one of the most popular game developers out there, being responsible for the extremely successful Grand Theft Auto series, and other various IPs (Intellectual Properties) like the Midnight Club racing game. The company has had a long-term partnership with Take Two, in order to publish their games, which was set to end at the beginning of 2009.
But, with the financial turmoil that has plagued Take Two for some time now, quite a few analysts predicted that Rockstar would cease its collaboration with the publisher and go to another company, presumably Electronic Arts, who had talked with Sam and Dan Houser, the founders of Rockstar, about a partnership deal. Now, as a denial of those rumors, Take Two has just announced that it has signed a new agreement with Rockstar to publish its games until 2012.
The new contract also says that Take Two will fund a new studio, made of several key members, which will develop new IPs and games that might bring a lot of profit to the publisher, who currently isn't in the best financial situation. This statement was commented by Strauss Zelnick, the chairman of Take Two, who declared that Rockstar was a valuable company and that its future games would be a great addition to the portfolio of his company.
“We’re delighted with the extension and expansion of Take-Two’s relationship with the Rockstar team. The talent and creativity at Rockstar are unparalleled in our industry. Their dedication to making extraordinary games has captured the enthusiasm of millions of fans around the world and has contributed enormously to establishing Take-Two as a force in the global video game marketplace and advancing our goal to become the most creative and most innovative company in the industry. In addition, this new chapter in our successful relationship further aligns the interests of our creative teams with those of our shareholders.”
This last statement is a key one, as the new partnership will surely give a considerable boost to the stock prices of Take Two, which has recently taken quite a beating on the Nasdaq exchange, after talks between the company and Electronic Arts have been ceased. Let's hope that Rockstar will continue a successful collaboration with Take Two and that it will deliver more and more quality games.