Take-Twobest known as the parent company of Rockstar Games (GTA, Red Dead Redemption), bills itself as a “success factory” and that’s why its games take so long to develop. To say it is the CEO, Strauss Zelnick who believes that it is better to invest more time and have masterpieces, than to rush and publish “flops”.
The declaration was born from one investor question during a finance meeting, who asked why it takes so long to release Take-Two’s flagship games. The CEO then said that there are no production problems. Quite simply, the company prioritizes publishing world-class games and avoids “flops,” even if it means delaying games.
“We definitely have expectations and very high quality demands, and that’s reflected in the fact that we’re delivering results across the board,” Zelnick said. “This company is a success factory. We’ve never had a disappointing exit since I can remember, and that’s honestly the most important thing.”
Zelnick added that would rather delay a game until it’s ready and also lowering the sales forecast rather than releasing a crappy game.
“If you have to choose, I prefer the situation we are in, which is that we had delays and had to revise the forecasts. I prefer this to any flop. This is the keystone in this sector. We’ve had issues – we’ve been around long enough to remember them – where we’ve had game delays in the past, and in the end it’s always been worth the wait, because when we get to the other side, the results are achieved and the little amount of time lag didn’t matter in the context of the results we were able to deliver. I hope that’s the case here too.”
Essentially, Take-Two claims that they are in full control and confident about the long-term results. Considering that GTA 5 has reached 170 million copies and Red Dead Redemption 2 is at 46 million, we think Zelnick needs to be listened to.
