Take-Two CEO Stresses The Importance Of New IP

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the continued importance of developing new IP Tuesday, following last year's breakout hit Red Dead Redemption and the "very successful" launch of L.A. Noire. "The company's had a track record dating back some time...of successfully launching at least one new IP a year," Zelnick said in a Gamasutra-attended conference call. "And we tend to own that intellectual property and benefit from it over a long period of time." The goal of Take-Two is to "be the most creative company in the business, and to delight audiences with our entertainment properties," according to Zelnick. "We can do that with our existing franchises, and we always need to keep our business fresh, and that means launching new franchises," he said. While launching a new IP presents "a different challenge" than a sequel, the success of either comes down to the same thing, according to Zelnick: "Having the best creative teams in the business, and encouraging them to pursue what they're passionate about. And then standing behind that, investing behind that, and doing so in a rational way and, we hope, a highly efficient way. And then marketing and distributing worldwide with the financial resources we're fortunate to possess, and with whatever creative abilities we have, all the way from the top to the most far-flung areas of our organization." "I am pleased that I think we're doing that job as well as anyone in the business. But we don't take anything for granted," he added. Take-Two's next major new IP -- as far as has been announced, anyway -- is Rockstar's Agent. While it was not mentioned as part of the company's fiscal outlook, Zelnick did confirm that the game is still in development.