Take-Two Interactivehasn’t had the best press recently. It’s only been a few months since thedisastrous release of the remasteredGrand Theft Auto Trilogy, and gamers will no doubt be eyeing Rockstar’s parent company with suspicion for some time. Now, it appears that Take-Two wants to bring several of its popular franchises to mobile.
Take-Two Interactiverecently acquired mobile game developer Zynga for a staggering 12.7 billion dollars. As a result, the company now appears to be exploring the possibility of bringing games likeGrand Theft Auto,Red Dead Redemption,BioShock,Mafia,Midnight Club, and more to mobile devices.
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Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recentlydiscussed the Zynga acquisitionduring an investor presentation. The presentation included a slide showcasing the complementary nature of the two company’s portfolios. The slide contains four quadrants, one of which is labeled “Portfolio of Iconic Console/PC Gaming IP” and includes the franchises mentioned above along withCivilization,Max Payne,L.A. Noire,Kerbal Space Program, andNBA 2K. The quadrant below it contains a collection of Zynga mobile developers. An arrow labeled, “Opportunity to bring Take-Two’s console/PC properties to mobile & add new game modes,” connects the two. Meanwhile, the other half of the slide looked at the potential of cross-platform support for Zynga’s library of mobile titles.
Take-Two has had some past success bringing its games to mobile. For example,Android users can already playCivilization 6, the Firaxis-developedXCOMgames, and severalGTAtitles on their mobile devices. While the quality of some of these ports is debatable, they show that Take-Two has already invested significantly in expanding into the mobile gaming market. Moreover, it appears the company’s ambitions may not be limited just to ports of existing games either. During the presentation’s Q&A segment, Zelnick expanded on the potential of new mobile and free-to-play titles based on Take-Two’s core intellectual property.
One of the more interesting franchises on the table isMidnight Club, Rockstar’s series of arcade-style racing games.The series’ most recent game wasMidnight Club: Los Angles. It released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008, with a cut-down PSP version later that year and aCompete Editionin 2009. Considering that the franchise has been dormant for 14 years, it’s a little odd to seeMidnight Clublisted alongside Take-Two’s heavy hitters likeRed DeadandGTA.
Fans could be seeing aMidnight Clubmobile title sometime soon. However, that may be reading too much into a passing mention. The presentation also listsMidnight Clubas one of Take-Two’s all-time best-selling franchises. Thus, its inclusion may have had more to do with past profitability than any specific plans. Still,Midnight Clubfans may want to keep their eyes out for future announcements fromTake-Two Interactive.
