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[LectureMaster]

As GTA 5 passes 205 million units sold, publisher Take-Two says hit titles "decay" and if they're not making new IP, they're "burning the furniture to heat the house"

"Everything degrades"

www.gamesradar.com

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Publisher Take-Two is best known for GTA, Red Dead Redemption, and its various sports games, but CEO Strauss Zelnick has emphasized in an earnings call last night that if the company wasn't willing to make new IP, "well then none of us would be sitting here today."

Zelnick got a little philosophical during the company's Q2 earnings call yesterday, November 7, 2024. "There is this thing called decay and entropy, and it's a feature of physics and human life and everything that exists on earth," he explains. "Ultimately, everything does decay, including hit titles. So if we're not trying new things and making new intellectual property, to say that we're resting on our laurels really understates it – we're really running the risk of burning the furniture to heat the house."

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There you go, R*.

 

[Represent.]

Every CEO should have this mindset.

Instead a lot depend on the same franchise for decades and never make anything new. Thats how an industry gets stale and loses creativity.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

I hope you kept warm when you burned Bioshock alive you splicing sonuva bitch

/s

 

[Evil Calvin]

Goddammit! I've been saying that shit for years here! Everyone wants a MK13, FF17, Horizon 3, GTA 6, Mario sequel 30, Zelda sequel 20, Resident Evil 9, Halo 8....etc........enough already with the sequels, remasters, remakes, reboots...regurgitated crap! Move on!! Adjust expectations on new IP and with any new release, tell your fucking investors to 'Fuck Off!!!.....the game will release when it's ready to release!'

 

[adamsapple]

Interesting thing to say from a studio coasting on GTA V and Red Dead 2 for the last decade+

 

[Haint]

Said by literally the only megapublisher CEO who hasn't released new IP in like 20 years. What a fucking clown.

 

[Three]

Said by literally the only megapublisher CEO who hasn't released new IP in like 20 years. What a fucking clown.

Take Two published a lot of new IP. This isn't Rockstar making the statement but Take Two.

 

[ValiantInstance]

He's completely right. We've reached an age of entertainment where every single decision is shareholder driven. Sequels, prequels and superhero movies print money, so why take a risk on something artistic.

This is happening across all media. Would Breaking Bad get greenlit today? Would it make it past its first season before getting axed? Would The Big Lebowski or countless other great B movies from the 90s/00s get made either?

Thankfully this mentality is starting to show signs of waning. You can only recycle the same old shit a certain number of times before people lose interest.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

His company's track record doesn't back up his talk. And didn't they just sell Private Division, the publishing arm that was meant for smaller games that would've in most cases been new IP?

Microsoft, SIE, T2, Square-Enix....most of these CEOs bark a lot more than they bite. The only ones I feel that consistently deliver on their words these days are Nintendo, Valve and maybe Capcom. If focusing squarely on platforms & publishers.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Said by literally the only megapublisher CEO who hasn't released new IP in like 20 years. What a fucking clown.

 

[Gambit2483]

Ok Zelnick...Then release the next

Bully
Midnight Club
Manhunt
Max Muthafuckin' Payne

 

[SF Kosmo]

There are evergreen series but they aren't this annual or bi-annual franchise stuff, they're series like Metal Gear or GTA they have infrequent and high quality new entries.

 

[Haint]

Take Two published a lot of new IP. This isn't Rockstar making the statement but Take Two.

I can't help but notice you guys didn't actually list any of these new IP from this supposed extensive new IP catalog that TTWO have developed/published since the early PS360's Bioshock, Borderlands, and Red Dead (which was what I was referring to with "in like 20 years"). I'm pretty sure there's nothing besides sports rehashes and PC RTS's.

 

[coffinbirth]

When was the last new IP they even had?

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

I can't help but notice you guys didn't actually list any of these new IP from this supposed extensive new IP catalog that TTWO have developed/published since the early PS360's Bioshock, Borderlands, and Red Dead (which was what I was referring to with "in like 20 years"). I'm pretty sure there's nothing besides sports rehashes and PC RTS's.

Idk bout the other guy but ur statement is the very reason why the ceo was saying they need new ip's... He's a clow for pointing out the problem that he himself is frustrated with?

 

[SportsFan581]

Interesting thing to say from a studio coasting on GTA V and Red Dead 2 for the last decade+

And their only upcoming release is GTA 6. Do what they say not as they do I guess the saying goes.

 

[Haint]

Idk bout the other guy but ur statement is the very reason why the ceo was saying they need new ip's... He's a clow for pointing out the problem that he himself is frustrated with?

Yes absolutely, he's speaking to a problem he himself created and is solely responsible for going back decades. He's THE. GUY. who chose not to green light or invest in new IP for the last 15-20 years. You don't get to cause the thing, then say you're frustrated with the thing happening. That's not how it works.

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Yes absolutely, he's speaking to a problem he himself created and is solely responsible for going back decades. He's THE. GUY. who chose not to green light or invest in new IP for the last 15-20 years. You don't get to cause the thing, then say you're frustrated with the thing happening. That's not how it works.

 

[Three]

I can't help but notice you guys didn't actually list any of these new IP from this supposed extensive new IP catalog that TTWO have developed/published since the early PS360's Bioshock, Borderlands, and Red Dead (which was what I was referring to with "in like 20 years"). I'm pretty sure there's nothing besides sports rehashes and PC RTS's.

Outer Wilds, Kerbal Space, No Rest for the Wicked, Olli Olli, and others are licensed IPs like most pubs . Nobody said it was extensive. Neither is most other publishers libraries bar Sony/MS though. Certainly isn't "who hasn't released new IP in like 20 years" though.

 

[Haint]

Outer Wilds, Kerbal Space, No Rest for the Wicked, Olli Olli, and others are licensed IPs like most pubs . Nobody said it was extensive. Neither is most other publishers libraries bar Sony/MS though. Certainly isn't "who hasn't released new IP in like 20 years" though.

You just listed a bunch of indie games that cost on the order of single digit millions to produce. These were not investments in new IP or franchises, they were $5 lottery tickets gambling on hitting the next Minecraft or Rocket League jackpot.

 

[Utamaru1706]

Idk bout the other guy but ur statement is the very reason why the ceo was saying they need new ip's... He's a clow for pointing out the problem that he himself is frustrated with?

It's because the CEO literally forgets that his studios had published new IPs, in which some of them are successful, and many people were literally waiting for the sequels.

Take a look at Rockstar's neglected titles like Bully, Manhunt, LA Noire, or even The Warriors, these games are literally popular among gamers, and Take-Two somehow pretend that they didn't existed, because their sales are not on GTA level, which somehow becomes their base standard.

So yeah, the CEO is frustrated not because their game studios not making new IPs, but instead he wants his game studios to make new IPs with the same level as GTA in terms of sales and performance, which literally a monumental task for any game studios out there...

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Bully would be the only title, La Noir was made by a studio in sydney, with an abhorrent boss, that ended up closing down. And The Warriors is a licensed game that either didn't made as well as projected or the cost of licensing is not worth retouching.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

How many big new IPs have they made outside of GTA, RR, NBA, Bioshock the past 15-20 years?

 

[Utamaru1706]

Bully would be the only title, La Noir was made by a studio in sydney, with an abhorrent boss, that ended up closing down. And The Warriors is a licensed game that either didn't made as well as projected or the cost of licensing is not worth retouching.

And all of those are still the new IPs that he wanted based on this article, yet he himself choose to neglect them...

LA Noire's sequel can be worked on their other studios, and I doubt the licensing cost of The Warriors was astronomical, to the point that they're having a deficit in their revenue, so the reason is clearly because they didn't perform as good as their top dogs like the GTA games or the annually sports games, which is absurd.

Maybe, just maybe, they need to lower their expectations a lot everytime their studios makes a new IP, instead of wanting them to sold tens of millions of copies instantly like GTA...

 

[Robb]

we're really running the risk of burning the furniture to heat the house."

Running the risk? They’ve been burning furniture to heat their house for years.

 

[Hypereides]

His company's track record doesn't back up his talk. And didn't they just sell Private Division, the publishing arm that was meant for smaller games that would've in most cases been new IP?

Microsoft, SIE, T2, Square-Enix....most of these CEOs bark a lot more than they bite. The only ones I feel that consistently deliver on their words these days are Nintendo, Valve and maybe Capcom. If focusing squarely on platforms & publishers.

This.

Zelnick's talk is nothing, but hot air. Most of these CEOs sound really out of touch after spending over a decade without someone having the guts to challenge their BS. These CEOs drove this kind of development culture out in the late 00s/early 10s. Now their short-sighted strategy is finally biting them in their asses after thinking they could auto-pilot their way through.

These guys need to fucking wake up and realise this industry's bedrock was built on taking chances on bold, risky creativity and visions. Encourage and actively train your developers/creators to think in new, weird and wild ideas. People will eventually pick up once you stop doing this (taking chances on new "outlandish" ideas).

The exit of Bobby Kotick was for a relief for this industry, but more of these stooges need to go too. They're collectively causing this degradation. Zelnick's role would be far better suited as a CFO than a CEO/head of a creative business.

 

[rofif]

Surprising W from them

 

[Kadve]

How many big new IPs have they made outside of GTA, RR, NBA, Bioshock the past 15-20 years?

The only "big" ones i can think about would be Kerbal Space Program and maybe Evolve. And booth were just published by some of their studios.

 

[Three]

You just listed a bunch of indie games that cost on the order of single digit millions to produce. These were not investments in new IP or franchises, they were $5 lottery tickets gambling on hitting a new Minecraft or Rocket League jackpot.

Outer Worlds wasn't single digit millions but like I said hardly any publisher is spending 100s of millions on new IP due to the risk of having something like Concord on your hands. Most are doing it with other licensed IP like Starwars or Lord of the rings, Take Two included.

 

[lh032]

"burning the furniture to heat the house"

Herman: Furniture? ok we will make Horizon spin off house renovation simulator

 

[PatientGamer]

How are we in 2024 and people still don't understand the difference between a Publisher and a Developer??

 

[dezzy8]

You're not contributing anything with these posts.

 

[kikkis]

People have been complaining about franchise fatigue for cod for 15 years now, but it leads sales every year apart from years when gta arrives.