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?
@Gabe Newell teases something for E3 2012 with a “3” in it:
“DOTA 2 launches on E3” ? It has a 3 in it … Or how about Portal 3? I mean people do hope for HL3 or at least HL2 – episode 3.
How about Team Fortress 3 🙂
@Microsoft includes “do not class action sue us”:
So it seems that bad practices tend to replace good practices. I mean while “do not class action sue us” will protect the company (cover it’s ass), it also allows it to be evil and get away with it.
Are they that sloppy that they feel that they need this kind of a clause? Or even worse, do they plan to do nasty stuff with your personal data?
About light bulbs: I heard that the ones built for the 220V will work just as well on 110V, but last much longer. Hint hint, if you have a trip to Europe 🙂
@Bizarre circumstances surround GSC Game World:
They sold quite a good number of the STALKER games, enough to keep the studio afloat. I think that these kind of news are just advertising, like the ARG for Valve.
I’m a big STALKER fan, by the way. Their earlier games were also pretty good (loved “Codename: Outbreak”).
As for 25 years, it’s still a small amount of time. I mean files remain classified as top secret for 50 years, unless their status is renewed for another 50.
Good segway there Paul!
@QOTW: the only handheld game system we had was one that could play snake and tetris. So big surprise, my favourite game was tetris, on a nameless handheld (’cause “17 in 1” is not a name) made in China 🙂
Just so you know, I took the time and left you an iTunes comment.
@Gabe Newell teases something for E3 2012 with a “3” in it: I look forward to seeing whatever game Valve releases next, but these kind of teasers for a teaser in kind of tiring to me. I won’t get excited until I see an actual gameplay trailer. Possible new releases other than Half-Life ending with 3: Team Fortress 3, Portal 3 and Left 4 Dead 3.
@QOTW: Sorry, I have never owned a handheld gaming system. This is because I have never found any reason to buy one (it’s better value to spend the money on a home console) and anyway I would only be able to play it at home because it takes less than an hour to get from one side of my country to the other, and there aren’t a lot of games that interest me on a handheld.