14 DAY TRIAL // Alan Lewis, corporate communication vice president at Take-Two Interactive, recently gave an insight on the usually long development cycles of the company's titles. Take Two is responsible with publishing games from the Grand Theft Auto, BioShock and Read Dead series.
Lewis said in an interview for Gamasutra that it was wrong to see Take Two as a publisher financially successful only in a year dominated by GTA. The company has strong intellectual properties that sell well. The fact that Take Two underperforms once in a while is to be blamed on the long time quality games need before they are ready to be shipped, according to him.
Game development isn't an exact science or an assembly line, in Lewis' opinion. Regarding the long time required to deliver Red Dead Redemption, the latest smash hit from Rockstar San Diego, Lewis said that “I think if you look at the quality of the game and what it's doing in the market, the fact is that it illustrates that to make a great game, sometimes you need to give the developers ample time to make something great. We certainly feel like it was worth the additional time that was put in. Not only the quality, but the consumer response has shown us it is worthwhile to do that.”
Mafia 2 is another title published by Take Two that has had a very long development cycle. It is the follow-up to the immensely successful Mafia, a game that launched in 2002 to wide critical acclaim. It plans to expand on the elements of the first installment in the series by creating even a better and more engaging story and delivering a believable and immersive open world setting through the fictional city of Empire Bay. Mafia 2 will be released on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC on August 24 in North America and 3 days later in Europe.