Take-Two Interactive is the company behind the worldwide hit game “Grand Theft Auto V” and the highly anticipated “Red Dead Redemption 2.” From the recent statement of the company’s CEO, it appears that fans will be seeing more of these games soon.
The company’s strategy
In an interview with GamesIndustry International, Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive CEO discussed the company’s strategy.
According to him, they are eyeing to have at least one AAA title to depend upon every year starting in 2018. It is worth noting that “Red Dead Redemption 2” has been moved to a release window of early 2018. The reason for the delay is for the developer to apply additional improvements, fixes, and polish to meet the fans’ expectation.
Recent dilemma
With the delay in the release of the second game installment of Take-Two’s western-themed game, the company has no AAA title to depend on for this year’s holiday season. Even though the company has a couple of titles releasing for its sports division, a triple A game is missing this year if we base it on their ideal strategy.
According to Zelnick, they thought they have already implemented their strategy in 2015. It was during this year that the company has stuck to its release windows. The CEO said that he thought they were really keeping their promise to the fans. However, in 2016, things did not happen as planned. While “Mafia III” has been successful, it has not achieved an impressive feat. Moreover, “Overwatch” left Gearbox Software’s “Battleborn” in the dust.
Bigger plans
Despite the failure of following their ideal strategy, Take-Two Interactive has a plan for its AAA franchises. “GTA 5” and “RDR2” could see more entries as the company’s strategy. 2K Games President David Ismailer was quoted saying that there is no sweeping change in the company’s strategy.
He added that they should release at least one AAA title ideally every year.
While the president did not directly mention “GTA 5” and “RDR2,” it is already given that the company will bank on these as they are the company’s biggest and most popular titles. More installments of the series are expected to be released in the following years. Last May 2017, “Grand Theft Auto V” had sold 80 million copies since its release in 2013. On the other hand, the first game installment “RDR” had reached the 11 million mark in August 2011. The game was released in May 2010.
Meanwhile, “Red Dead Redemption 2” is slated to be released in the early part of 2018. It will be available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.