Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two Interactive is a developer and publisher.

Take-Two Interactive Webpage

An American company that owns studios such as Rockstar Games, 2K Games, 2K Sports, Firaxis Games, and Zynga. Games produced by Take-Two Interactive's studios and published through its labels reach all major platforms - personal computers, consoles, and mobile devices.

Founded in 1993, Take-Two Interactive is based in New York City. The company is headed by Strauss Zelnick, who serves as its president and CEO.

The history of Take-Two Interactive

Prehistory

Take-Two Interactive's story begins in 1993, when Ryan Brant founded the company. In the beginning, it concentrated on developing video games for personal computers.

These titles include GameTek's Star Crusader (1994) and Bureau 13 (1995), along with Acclaim Entertainment's Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft from 1996 and Black Dahlia from 1998. Over time, Take-Two began moving into the publishing market with increasing confidence. The company originally published only its own titles, but by 1996 it was distributing games made by others as well.

First major successes

Its achievements paved the way for a NASDAQ debut in April 1997. With the funds it raised, the company was able to purchase GameTek's European branches, its Alternative Reality Technologies studio, and the rights to several brands. As time went on, Take-Two purchased a number of other companies, with two standing out in particular.

In March 1998, the company experienced one of the most pivotal moments in its history when Take-Two Interactive acquired BMG Interactive's assets, including the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Its original creators, Sam and Dan Houser, as well as Terry Donovan and Jamie King, founded Rockstar Games within the Take-Two family, where the GTA franchise would be developed moving forward. In 1999, the company purchased DMA Design, which would later become known as Rockstar North.

The acquisition phase

In the years that followed, the Grand Theft Auto series became a massive bestseller, driving Take-Two's revenues to over a billion dollars by 2003. The Sid Meier's Civilization franchise was added to Take-Two Interactive's portfolio of major series in 2004. The company also intended to purchase Vivendi Universal Games, though the plan was ultimately dropped.

Instead, in 2005, Take-Two Interactive brought Visual Concepts and Kush Games under its umbrella, along with its new publishing labels, 2K Games and 2K Sports. The expansion continued with the acquisition of Firaxis Games in 2005 and the addition of Irrational Games in January 2006. PAM Development soon followed suit.

Emerging problems

At the same time, accusations of financial manipulation placed Take-Two under the watch of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for six years, from 2001 to 2007. In response, Ryan Brant formally left the company in October 2006. He ultimately pleaded guilty to falsifying business records but avoided prison by cooperating with the SEC, paying a $7.3 million fine, and being barred from holding controlling roles in publicly traded companies.

The second crisis arose from Hot Coffee, a controversial mod for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, prompting the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Take-Two and Rockstar Games. Even though a settlement was reached, the class action lawsuits amounted to $20.1 million in costs for the companies.

In the middle of 2007, investors took over the company, and Strauss Zelnick was appointed as chairman and CEO. As a result, the company underwent a major restructuring, leading to the layoff of roughly five to fifteen percent of its 2,100 employees. Additionally, some of its European offices were closed. Take-Two entered a collaboration with Nickelodeon in September 2007, creating 2K Play, followed by the establishment of the 2K Marin studio in December.

In February 2008, Electronic Arts offered around $1.9 billion to purchase Take-Two Interactive. Even though the offer was turned down, Zelnick and the board proposed reviewing it after the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV. Eventually, EA withdrew from the entire initiative.

Return to success

The next significant event in Take-Two Interactive's history was the acquisition of the WWE brand rights from THQ in January 2013; from then on, subsequent installments of the wrestling franchise would be published by 2K Sports as WWE 2K. In September 2013, the release of Grand Theft Auto V generated enormous success, netting Take-Two approximately $6 billion and raising its stock by over 600 percent.

In 2016, a new legal battle arose when Leslie Benzies, ex-president of Rockstar North, sought $150 million in unpaid royalties from Take-Two. Both parties reached a confidential settlement, bringing the dispute to a close in February 2019.

Major acquisitions, new ventures, and layoffs

In February 2017, Ken Levine, the "father" of the BioShock series, founded a new studio within Take-Two Interactive: Ghost Story Games. That December saw the launch of a new publishing label, Private Division, created to support and publish standout projects from independent developers.

In February 2019, the studio lineup expanded with the addition of 31st Union, led by Michael Condrey, a veteran of Sledgehammer Games and Visceral Games. Playdots, a mobile-game studio, came on board in 2020, along with Ruffian Games, which was absorbed into Rockstar Games. Codemasters was on track to be acquired in November, but Electronic Arts stepped in with a higher offer.

However, in March 2021, HB Studios - best known for the PGA Tour series - joined Take-Two's lineup of studios. In June, the Serbian developer Nordeus, creators of Top Eleven, was acquired as well. In July 2021, the mobile games division was renamed T2 Mobile Games.

In May 2022, Take-Two Interactive completed its $12.7 billion acquisition of Zynga. The deal led to Playdots being closed and Two Dots moving under Zynga's management.

In March 2024, layoffs occurred at Private Division and Firaxis Games, alongside news of Take-Two's acquisition of The Gearbox Entertainment Company, including Gearbox Software and Gearbox Publishing.

Unfortunately, in April 2024, news broke that Take-Two planned to lay off about 5 percent of its workforce, affecting roughly 600 employees. It was also revealed that a number of projects under the publisher's direction would be canceled. All these measures were expected to generate annual savings of $165 million.

The story continued in May 2024, when Private Division ended its partnerships with two Polish studios. One More Level, which had been developing Cyber Slash, along with Bloober Team, which was working on an unannounced horror project. Furthermore, in November 2024, it was announced that Private Division and all of its projects - both released and unreleased - would be sold. Moon Studios' No Rest for the Wicked was the exception, remaining under Take-Two's support.