Take-Two secures GTA talent

By Games Industry.biz Published 15 March, 2006

For $25 million!

Confirming the troubled publisher's heavy reliance on its controversial Grand Theft Auto series, Take-Two's latest 10-Q filing includes mention of a three-year, USD 25 million deal to secure and safeguard the creative team behind its flagship franchise.

Despite promising a revised strategy that includes product diversification and an expansion of titles from its 2K Games subsidiary, the publisher is keenly aware that the bulk of its profit (and, ironically, the main catalyst for its seemingly endless run of litigation woes) in recent years has been directly attributed to the GTA franchise.

Having recently slumped to a net loss of USD 29 million for the first quarter of 2006, the 10-Q filing discusses risk assessment for the publisher, suggesting that a failure to maintain its key creative staff for the series could seriously damage the company in future months.

"We rely on our management and other key personnel for the successful operation of our business. In particular, we are highly dependent on the expertise, skills and knowledge of certain of our Rockstar employees responsible for content creation and development of Grand Theft Auto and other titles," the filing states.

According to the filing, the deal grants "certain Rockstar employees" USD 14.8 million in restricted common stock, with a further USD 10.2 million over the next three years, although the company admits that "there can be no assurance that we will be able to retain these personnel at current compensation levels, or at all."

Analysts remain cautious however, hinting that Take-Two's efforts to mop up Hot Coffee with USD 25 million in stock might not be the best way forward for the publisher, and could back-fire, adversely affecting its ability to meet financial guidance for the 2007/2008 fiscal period.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Freek #1 6 years ago

    Pretend it's Rockstar :D

  • Mildew #2 6 years ago

    GTA would live on anyway if Take Two was around or not...maybe Dietrich will pop up here too :o)

  • marilena #3 6 years ago

    No doubt, for Take-Two losing Rockstar would be like Vivendi losing Blizzard. A death blow. I can understand why they'd do anything to keep those guys onboard.
    Edited by 1 at 15/03/06 @ 16:02

  • Blerk #4 6 years ago

    An offer they couldn't refuse, eh? Did the cash come stapled to a horse's head?

  • kangarootoo #5 6 years ago

    Yeah, a horses head made of MONEY!

  • Talha #6 6 years ago

    To me, this is starting to fainly smack of (whisper it...)

    One
    Trick
    Pony

  • dk_rare #7 6 years ago

    They sure love money : D Maybe if Take-Two are scared of loosing potential money they will release all new GTAs on all three major consoles. Oh wait, that's right, Take-Two love money and Sony loves waving it's cheque book.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/06 @ 08:04

  • Blerk #8 6 years ago

    Can you imagine the uproar for a wand-enabled GTA on Revolution?

    "Sick Nintendo encourage kids to club prostitutes to death!"

  • smoison #9 6 years ago

    One
    Trick
    Pony

    What? Final Fantasy? Or Metal Gear or GT... Ohh wait you just mean sequels to good games....
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/06 @ 09:08

  • Talha #10 6 years ago

    @Smoison: Not at all. I was talking about Take Two/Rockstar. GT is from a fairly smaller developer - they sure ARE a one-trick pony. Metal Gear is now being developed by a small spin-off of Konami - so they too are an OTP. On the other hand, Take Two/Rockstar are considerably big, unless I am much mistaken - they can afford to develop a lot of games other than GTA. No one here is saying anything against GTA, I am playing SA to this day. But what constitutes a 'good game' is fairly subjective, and just because YOU don't like them doesn't mean that no one else does or should.
    Edited by 1 at 16/03/06 @ 10:05