Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick believes that, if a tablet game offers the same robust experience as a retail title, it should be reasonable to sell it as the same price point.
Talking to business site Forbes,
Zelnick said that, while
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on iPhone had been "creatively successful," the iPhone price point meant that the game was not "economically meaningful."
"At the end of the day, we are interested in creating economic value, and what we intend to do is make something and sell it to millions and millions of people, and sell it at a high price," he explained. "You don’t want to spend lots and lots of money to make something you are going to sell to a small amount of people at a low price."
Asked whether a company should be able to charge $40 for a tablet game, Zelnick said, "I don’t see why not."
"Tablets are ubiquitous. And tablets are a great game platform. And it’s the right sized screen. And you use the tablet to have an engaging experience," he noted.
"So if all of that’s true, I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to sell a robust product for the same price point. The reason the price point is currently lower for an iPhone app is it is used for five minutes, and not for a hundred hours."
"My take is that small screens will be used for a quick but interactive entertainment experience. Mid and large screens can be a robust and engaging entertainment experience."
Zelnick also revealed that Take-Two will continue to take advantage of its ownership of the
Duke Nukem IP in the future, potentially taking the franchise outside of video games.
