Showing 17 results for the search terms: take2 interactive.
Week in Review: Analyst scoffs at iPhone competitors, we look at the venture capital “two and twenty,” and more
Here’s a rundown of what happened in the last week of tech and business news. First up, the five most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days, including plenty of discussion about AT&T and the iPhone, plus some advice on how startups should grow:
Analyst: iPhone secure against competitors, AT&T not so much — “As Palm, Google, and others roll out their smartphone platforms, you might think Apple should be worried about keeping the momentum…
Go to Story Permalink »Take-Two pays $20 million to settle litigation that sprang from game’s hidden sex scenes
Take-Two Interactive Software said today that it reached an agreement to settle a securities class-action lawsuit that stemmed from its infamous “hot coffee” incident involving hidden sex scenes in a Grand Theft Auto video game four years ago.
In that incident, developers at Rockstar Games included a hidden sex scene in their hot-selling Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas video game. The scene (right) wasn’t playable in the game until a hacker released a tool that unlocked…
Go to Story Permalink »Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars coming to iPhone
In another boost for games on the iPhone, console game king Rockstar Games is preparing to launch two major games on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
You could call this Take 57 of the “major game brands invade the iPhone” movie. We’ll see if Rockstar, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive, can crack the code and stand out among the iPhone’s apps, which currently number 83,653. (Of that number, 16,482 are games, according to Mobclix.) Rockstar’s…
Go to Story Permalink »Take-Two Interactive’s stock price gets a shock from BioShock 2 delay
Yesterday’s announcement of a delay in Take-Two Interactive’s key game, BioShock 2, has led to a pounding on the stock market and a suggestion the company may be a takeover target again.
The stock is down 10 percent to $8.06 a share this morning. And a couple of analysts have lowered their earnings expectations since BioShock 2, which was due to arrive this fall, will now appear sometime in 2010. At the same time that Take-Two…
Go to Story Permalink »Take-Two experimenting with online NBA game in China
Take-Two Interactive announced yesterday that it’s going to launch an online version of its NBA 2K basketball game in Asia. It will do so in partnership with Tencent Holdings, China’s largest online game operator.
The deal shows that Western game publishers continue to experiment with launching online games in Asia, where the free-to-play business model prevails. That is, the basic games are available for free and players can pay to expand the experience via micro transactions…
Go to Story Permalink »Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick talks about games beyond Grand Theft Auto
Strauss Zelnick is chairman of Take-Two Interactive. He has an enviable place in the industry, as head of a company that, through its RockStar Games division, has a lock on Grand Theft Auto, the most valuable franchise in the video game industry. GTA IV sold more than $500 million in its first week upon release in April 2008 and went on to sell a total of more than 13 million units. But although Take-Two owns…
Go to Story Permalink »Taking on giants, GamesCampus and Cybersports move into online sports
Taking on giants is part of what it means to be a startup. Today, two young game companies are launching online sports leagues — something, for the most part, that gaming goliaths like EA have yet to come around to.
These ones will stand out from the pack because they’re trying to build high-quality virtual worlds that can support large sports fan communities.
GamesCampus of San Jose, Calif. has adapted an online baseball game created by Korea’s…
Go to Story Permalink »EA and Take-Two give up on merger talks
After taking a good peak inside the kimono of Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts has decided to turn its back on its six-month effort to buy the publisher of “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
EA said in a statement that it had high regard of Take-Two but after reviewing Take-Two’s management presentation on its future plans and other due diligence materials, it decided not to acquire Take-Two. EA had previously offered $2 billion to buy Take-Two.
Take-Two said in…
Go to Story Permalink »Grand Theft Auto IV tops 10 million sold
“Grand Theft Auto IV” is on its way to breaking records, despite a feared slowdown in sales.
Take-Two Interactive reported that it has sold more than 10 million copies of the controversial shooting game since it launched on April 29. The game hit the 10 milllion mark as of Aug. 16. Previously, the game had sold 8.5 million units as of May 31. So sales are slowing, but not as much as some feared.The figures are…
Go to Story Permalink »EA and Take-Two Interactive start talking to each other
After months of a hostile-takeover stand-off, Take-Two Interactive Software said today that it expects to sign a confidentiality agreement with Electronic Arts. That means the two can start talking seriously about evaluating “strategic alternatives” that might result in an investment or purchase of Take-Two, which has the hottest property in games, Rockstar Games, the maker of “Grand Theft Auto IV.”
EA is also expected to let its $2 billion tender offer expire tonight at midnight Eastern…
Go to Story Permalink »E3 perspective: Q&A with Chairman Strauss Zelnick on the future of Take-Two Interactive
Strauss Zelnick is chairman of Take-Two Interactive, the hottest video game company on the planet thanks to its popular Grand Theft Auto IV, which sold more than 6 million copies in the first week alone. He is CEO of entertainment investment company ZelnickMedia and was previously CEO of music and entertainment company BMG Entertainment (now Sony BMG). Prior to joining BMG in 1994, he was CEO of video game developer Crystal Dynamics and president of…
Go to Story Permalink »Electronic Arts CEO lets his game developers shine, cuts deal with “Doom” maker id Software
John Riccitiello, chief executive of Electronic Arts, took the stage for the first time at an E3 press conference. Then he did something unusual. He relinquished the stage to his game developers, who proceeded to talk about their titles. Sitting just behind me was Mike Gallagher, the head of the Entertainment Software Association. Gallagher was telling me how much he admired Riccitiello, or JR, before the EA press conference started. Riccitiello could have done what…
Go to Story Permalink »EA extends $2 billion offer for Take-Two Interactive again
Maybe Electronic Arts is trying to wear down the management of Take-Two Interactive. EA said today it was once again extending its $2 billion tender offer for all of the shares of Take-Two.
The previous offer of $25.74 a share expired on Monday and remains unchanged. The offer has now been extended until July 18. Owen Mahoney, senior vice president of EA corporate development, said in a statement, “We congratulate Rockstar on the successful launch of…
Go to Story Permalink »Grand Theft Auto IV sales top $500 million; id Software announces Doom IV
It’s a big day in video games.
Take-Two Interactive said worldwide sales of Grand Theft Auto IV have surpassed $500 million in its first week on the market. More than 6 million games have been sold at a retail value of at least $60 a copy. And id Software announced “Doom 4.”
On its opening day, GTA IV sold 3.6 million units with a retail value of $310 million. Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, said in a…
Go to Story Permalink »EA gets a new soldier in the takeover fight
It’s not wise to go without a consigliere in a mob war. That’s why Electronic Arts appointed Eric Brown as chief financial officer today. The Godfather himself, EA CEO John Riccitiello, needs Brown to run the numbers on taking over Take-Two Interactive. Yesterday, Take-Two’s board rejected EA’s $2 billion hostile tender offer as inadequate.
Brown, 42, worked in the late 1990s as chief operating officer and CFO for EA’s Redwood Shores studio. Before his latest appointment….
Go to Story Permalink »The EA Death Star getting close to Take-Two Tatooine?
Here’s an amusing satirical mash-up (note, the site works intermittently, I found) of Darth Vader and Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello. EA, of course, represents the evil Galactic Empire attempting to swallow Take-Two interactive with its “friendly” hostile $26 a share offer.
We didn’t create this, it’s the work of Rob Dunlop, a comic book writer in south London, who brings a little comic relief to a serious subject in the video game industry with his…
Go to Story Permalink »Updated: Is Take-Two distracting Electronic Arts from opportunities like Facebook gaming?
Hello folks. I’ll talk more about my role at VentureBeat soon. In my transition to this new job, I haven’t weighed in on Electronic Arts‘ $2 billion bid for Take-Two Interactive. Bear with me as I draw a connection between this and Facebook gaming. The issue is whether EA should grow organically or by acquisition. I don’t think it’s easy to do both well.
Maybe EA is trying to score Take-Two on the cheap before its…
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