A Look At Take-Two's Books

Gamasutra reports on Take-Two Interactive's 10-K filing with the SEC for 2005. A much anticipated document, it lays out information about the ongoing troubles Rockstar's publishing parent has been having. Besides the recent high-profile lawsuits, it gives details on their purchases over the last year. From the article: "It is also revealed that Top Spin developer Indie Built was purchased for $18.5 million in cash. Although not technically part of the company's financial year the cost of Civilization IV developer Firaxis was put at $26.7 million, composed of $12.5 million of restricted common stock and $0.86 million in cash. A significant $11.3 million of the total was in the form of contingent considerations based on future product sales."

Comments

missing article link?

[rillopy]

Here is the link to the Gamasutra article:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?st ory=7993/

The price of being bought out

[Anonymous Coward]

According to TFA, they bought Firaxis for only 26.7 million, while Kush Studios was bought for 27.8 million. Is it just me or does it seem odd that Firaxis isn't at the top of the list?

Re:The price of being bought out

[MMaestro]

Its not that unusual when you look at the reviews/rating/reception Civilization 3 and 4 recieved when launched.

Civ 4 is a love it or hate it game (with most hating since it changed the Civilization formula so much). Reviews were positive, but the sheer lack of mass interest in the game simply speaks louder.

Civilization 3 had a whole set of problems on its own. Did not ship with multiplayer, the first expansion was a buggy failure, the second expansion was too little too late and it had been far too long since Civilization 2 (Gold Edition) which had multiplayer.

Re:The price of being bought out

[DCookie]

You also have to remember VC/Kush releases NBA, MLB, NHL, College Hoops, and (at the time of purcahse) NFL. That's a lot more games than Firaxis. VC/Kush is a larger company so it makes sense it costed more.

Duke Nuken Forever?

[Anonymous Coward]

They paid $6 mil for duke nuken forever, man, maybe they'd be interested in investing in my new console, called phatom.

That was expected

[poeidon1]

With big revenue gainer game like Grand Theft Auto confronted with the violent and nudity controversies etc etc...I expected them to have legal troubles but this much financial problem is beyond my expectations.

They are covering their asses

[Anonymous Coward]

From the article:

"With the Grand Theft Auto series apparently accounting for a total of 34 percent of the company's revenues, the logic behind making so many high profile and costly acquisitions is obvious. However, with such a magnitude of legal actions looming, the company mayt undergo a rough ride this year, especially as a new home console version of Grand Theft Auto is not expected till 2007."

It is quite obvious that Take-Two is diversifying it's portfolio to reduce the impact that the litigation against GTA is having. They are just covering their asses in case the court case actually succeeds.

It's still alive!

[oneiros27]

Thanks for the link -- this little passage really made my day:

One other notable payment was the renegotiation of a $6 million charge due upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever back in March 2005. The epic delay of 3D Realms' shooter has meant that $4.25 million of the final milestone payment has already been paid, alongside the promise of a final $500,000 upon the commercial release of Duke Nukem Forever prior to December 31, 2006.

Take Two needs a beating

[maumedia]

Take Two has been ripe with cash from the GTA games. They could probably use a few bumps in the road to encourage them to learn how to run a company and manage their money. It's somewhat easier to run a company if you just have a giant cash cow pouring money into your coffers on a consistent basis. Rockstar would be the golden child in any publisher's roster. Does anyone really care what happens to Take Two?