Take 2 Being Taken Over
- Scribbled on March 8th, 2007 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Industry News
In some breaking news, the BBC is reporting that an investor takeover is in progress at Take 2 Interactive, the folks who brought us Grand Theft Auto III and the 2K Sports games.
The BBC reports:
Shares in Take-Two Interactive Software jumped 18% as news of the management coup was unveiled. The company has been under fire for a string of financial irregularities – from overstated profits to illegally backdated stock options…. The investors own 46% of Take-Two and have said they will try to install Strauss Zelnick, the ex-chief executive of BMG Entertainment – which sold its own gaming arm to Take-Two in 1998 – as non-executive chairman. They will also aim to oust chief executive Paul Eibeler and review the position of chief financial officer, Karl Winters, documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission said.
How will this affect gamers? Anytime management changes at (or if there is a corporate takeover of) a major publisher, things could change, usually for the worse (hello, Vivendi!) Part of the reason for the takeover was reportedly the poor handling of the Hot Coffee controversy, and one doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist to know how new management might try to shackle such “creative license”.
Keep an eye on this story – it could get ugly.
March 9th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
[...] 9, 2007 at 7:12 pm · Filed under Uncategorized Take 2 Being Taken Over: GTA in trouble? Shares in Take-Two Interactive Software jumped 18% as news of the management coup was unveiled. The [...]
March 9th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Oh no! CJ, do something about this. Tommy, Tony, oh no! Help!
March 9th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
[...] 2 Being Taken Over: GTA in trouble? Filed under: Uncategorized — recar @ 7:34 pm Take 2 Being Taken Over: GTA in trouble? Shares in Take-Two Interactive Software jumped 18% as news of the management coup was unveiled. The [...]
March 9th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
[...] stock options. Time will only tell who this effects the release of GTA or other Take 2 Games.read more | digg story Share:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
March 9th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Take 2 games bought the license for Links 2004 from microsoft. It is still the best golf game on the market and its 4 years old. Here is some hope that new management will be smart enough to realize they could make a mint by remaking it for next gen consoles. There has not been a golf game made in 4 years that was worth playing. I hit a hole in one my first swing on Tiger ‘07, what a stupid game.
March 9th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Ha catchy title. Hopefully it makes them focus on more than GTA which is stagnating in my opinion.
March 9th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
As long as they keep making GTA, this wont matter to much. In fact, I think it will only help. Keep the focus on the games.
March 9th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
This is serious, Hot Coffee was an exercise in programming free speech, it was locked and it was only available after a modder uncovered it – I don’t blame him, but it was in poor taste since it was ripe for Jack Thompson and the Christian coalition. They shouldn’t have left it in the final game, but GTA is and has always been an Adult game.
If the series is older then you, you probably shouldn’t be playing it. I think the next GTA is going to be severely toned down and all sexual references are going to be minimized, which is just crap because as an adult (in my 20’s) I want entertainment and I don’t want to be censored from violence or sex.
March 10th, 2007 at 10:40 am
Take 2 really screwed the gaming industry and set it back many years with the whole Hot Coffee thing. People should absolutely be concerned that future adult games will be “toned down.”
March 10th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
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March 11th, 2007 at 8:04 am
[...] Take 2 Interactive Being Taken Over [...]
March 12th, 2007 at 7:39 am
[...] of the reason for the earlier reported Take 2 takeover attempt were the losses being incurred by the company. Well, according to Reuters, the company is still [...]
March 13th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
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