NEWS - Friday, January 6, 2006
Take-Two Announces New Releases For 2006
Take-Two announces multiple new releases for 2006 Following the release of its fiscal results for 2005, Take-Two Interactive has announced a slew of new titles scheduled for a 2006 release - including several new iterations of Rockstar’s acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series. Having failed to meet previous fiscal forecasts, citing a widespread industry sales slump and "the impact of the hardware transition" as key factors in its less than impressive revenue figures, Take-Two remains optimistic about the performance of its forthcoming product portfolio. The company has announced delays on several titles, which have been afforded additional development time and will now be released in the second quarter of 2006. These include 2K Games’ The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PC and Xbox 360, Top Spin 2 for the Xbox 360, DS and GBA, College Hoops 2K6 for Xbox 360, and Major League Baseball 2K6 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP, and Nintendo GameCube. More significantly Take-Two’s most renowned subsidiary, Rockstar Games, will be releasing a number of new titles including a brand new installment in its award-winning and persistently controversial Grand Theft Auto series. Take-Two places significant emphasis on the franchise, which accounted for USD 236 million of the company’s revenue figures in 2004 thanks to the phenomenal success of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rockstar will port its PSP title, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, to Sony’s PS2 console, giving a substantially wider audience the chance to experience the game which claimed the number one sales spot throughout October and November in the US, and continues to sell well in the UK and Europe. Additionally, gamers can expect a brand new Grand Theft Auto title for the PSP, an Xbox 360 title based on a new brand, and a sequel to another, undisclosed Rockstar brand. Rockstar are still intending to release Bully on PS2 and Xbox, a title which has already begun courting controversy - resulting in numerous calls for a complete ban on the game long before its intended release. Other notable releases from Take-Two include the forthcoming adaptation of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, first person shooter Prey, and highly anticipated TV tie-in 24: The Game. Take-Two has so far declined to provide guidance on its 2006 fiscal results.Source: http://www.gameindustry.biz
