Like a washed up superstar, Grand Theft Auto IV continues to drop in NPD figures. This Axl Rose of video games came on strong and sputtered out into oblivion with barely a notice, leaving the spotlight and all hype behind it. This drastic fall may hurt any negotiations “behind closed doors” with Electronic Arts and their constant attempts to take over Take-Two.
Prior to the release of GTA IV we, in our gaming podcast, predicted a huge launch would up the anti against the bids on Take-Two from EA but things didn’t work out exactly as we expected. Although the game has sold 8.5-million units, it might not add any new bargaining power to the back door negotiations.
A game company is only as good as their games. A hit title which dies out quick helps financially guide the future of the company; technically the future isn’t so bright. With the title quickly falling off the top game sales charts we may never see it hit record sales figures to match that of smaller titles. Having one hot title every four years that “breaks records” for a week isn’t a strong weapon against a low bid from a larger publisher.
While EA may not have any record setting “one week” sales titles yet, they do have a consistently strong set of titles which stick on the charts for months with newer titles arriving to take their spot when they fade. The same can be said for a few other notable publishers, Activision and Ubisoft. To survive in the hot game industry, especially with market downturns, one must have a cycle of great games to publish throughout the year consistently year-over-year in order to provide evidence of their financial stability.
Assuming the bid won’t raise for GTA IV, where does that leave Take-Two? Perhaps Take-Two is better off under the umbrella of Electronic Arts after all. The waters are getting more hostile in the industry as companies compete for gamers attention with 100-million dollar titles and casual games and game consoles (read: Wii) start to build a whole new none-gamer-style momentum.
Is Take-Two better off under the EA brand?
Xbox 360 
For those that are Facebook junkies, playing their hearts out of Scrabulous, you’re going to be hit with some reality: it’s not real scrabble. Hasbro has attempted to
Hi Guys.
As usual: thanks for your effort in this episode, i highly aprecciate this!
Regarding the topics:
I did not play that much atm, its too hot 😀
I played a little bit God of War on the PS5, a little bit Magic Arena and a little bit Life is strange: true colors.
Turtles: I will buy the game as well, games like these are so much fun with friends and the price is totally fair imho.
Starfield: i watched the short clips, which have been shown during the Microsoft Bethesda showcase event some days ago. But i am not very interested in that game, because its too huge. I sadly dont have the time to play such big games where you have to spent so many time 🙁
Silksong: cant wait to be released!
Hot Wheels: Yes i am excited as well. Looks funny and interesting, even if am not so much into racing games 🙂
Regarding all the other games, i dont know them, so cant say anything about it 🙁
Thanks again and please stay healthy!
Greetings from germany,
Ralf
Dragon’s Dogma 2 might be great if they expand choices with the collaboration features. Maybe have tactical party settings like Dragon Age 2 had, so you can direct collaborative battles without tediously micro-managing.
Great show!