take-two

Though Halo 3 held the all-time entertainment industry record for single-day sales for eight months, it could be a long time before anyone bests the record-shattering sales achieved by GTA IV.

On Wednesday, Take-Two Interactive, which owns GTA IV developer Rockstar Games, announced that the new game had raked in all-time records of $310 million on its launch day of April 29 and $500 million during its first week. The single-day figure shattered the previous record, set last September by Halo 3, of $170 million.

And given how quickly Bungie Studios' Halo 3 was reduced to second place, it stands … Read more

When Take-Two released GTA IV to the masses last week, some wondered just how big this game would be. Most analysts pegged the eventual first week sales at around $400 million and thought that was a huge week. But in an interesting turn of events that should press Take-Two's asking price higher, the company is poised to announce that it realized over $500 million in revenue in just the first week of Grand Theft Auto IV's availability.

But before it was met with such success, GTA IV garnered some of the biggest hype we have ever seen in gaming. Unlike any other title released in recent memory, the story of Niko Bellic and his rise in the criminal underworld achieved blockbuster status and quickly realized the full potential of a title that can totally change the way we're expected to think of gaming in general.

With that in mind, I entered the world of GTA IV wondering what would confront me. Would it be just another example of debauchery and disregard for humanity like some critics believe or a title that would change the way I think about gaming?… Read more

The publisher of the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise feels like it got ripped off in Chicago--and it's suing.

Take-Two Interactive Software sued the Chicago Transit Authority on Monday for allegedly pulling its ads promoting the latest version of the action-driving and crime game just days after the ads began appearing, thus violating its free-speech and contractual rights, according to a Reuters report.

The suit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks reinstatement of the ads on buses and display spaces, as well as monetary damages of at least $300,000, the reported value of the contract, … Read more

Uh-oh.

For all the champagne toasts that are no doubt going on over at Take-Two Interactive and its subsidiary Rockstar Games over the grand launch day of Grand Theft Auto IV, there's a bit of a dark cloud brewing.

According to a post on CNET News.com sister site GameSpot, there's a brouhaha afoot in GTA IV forums all over the Internet because of some players' complaints that the game is freezing up on them.

As GameSpot's Brendan Sinclair points out, it was only a month ago that another one of Rockstar's games, Bully had freezing-up … Read more

Executives at Electronic Arts have to be kicking themselves right about now.

It appears that Take-Two Interactive, the video game publisher EA has been trying to buy for the last couple of months, has a potentially record-breaking hit on its hands with Grand Theft Auto IV. And EA isn't pocketing the cash.

While it's too early to know exactly how many copies of GTA IV sold Tuesday, the game's launch day, anecdotal evidence suggests it will likely be one of the most successful launches in the entertainment industry's history--if not the most.

"We are saying … Read more

Shares of game publisher Take-Two were up Monday on the heels of positive reviews of the forthcoming video game Grand Theft Auto IV, which is being released to the public at midnight Tuesday.

Shares of the game publisher traded as high as $27.10, 3.4 percent higher than Friday's closing price. That trading price is also a good dollar a share above the offer made by Electronic Arts when it launched its hostile bid for Take-Two last month. Take-Two rejected that offer, calling it "inadequate." Take-Two owns GTA creator Rockstar.

The excitement surrounding the release has … Read more

After a quiet few weeks, Electronic Arts and its takeover target, Take-Two Interactive Software, are back to sparring.

The latest round between the video game makers got into full swing on Friday morning, with word from EA that it would extend its Friday deadline for buying up all Take-Two shares by a month, to May 16. But even as it gave with one hand, it took away with another: EA said it would trim the per-share offering price to $25.74 from $26, given newly OK'd stock grants to Take-Two's management, ZelnickMedia.

On Thursday, Take-Two shareholders approved a … Read more

Why didn't anybody think of this before? Grand Theft Auto franchise developer Rockstar Games has teamed up with Amazon.com in an interesting joint promotion.

When GTA IV comes out on April 29 and you are cruising around inside doing whatever evil deeds come to mind, you might like a particular song playing on one of the radio stations in the game. Well, you will be able dial a number on your in-game virtual cellphone and receive a text message with artist and title information. And if you've signed up to be part of Rockstar's upcoming social … Read more

Electronic Arts has amended its takeover offer for smaller video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive.

According to an EA representative and an EA filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the offer has been extended to Friday, April 18, instead of Friday, April 11. (EA's own press release incorrectly states that April 18 is a Wednesday. Oops.)

In addition, EA added a new condition to its offer: Take-Two must chuck its "poison pill" shareholder rights plan designed to deter the takeover.

Earlier this week, Take-Two officially rejected EA's bid, adopted the poison pill, and moved its annual … Read more