Take-Two: new consoles will not increase development costs, and PC is a key platform

Take-Two is ready for the next generation of consoles. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, publisher Strauss Zelnick, the publisher's chief executive, told investors he doesn't think the launch of new systems from Sony and Microsoft next year will significantly increase the cost of game development.

“We don’t really expect material costs to change with the transition to the next generation,” said Mr. Zelnik. “Every time a new technology comes along that allows us to do more, developers want to use it, and that can drive up costs. But our current expectation is not that the industry will face a cost surge. In the interactive entertainment business, the days of rising and falling cost curves driven by hardware cycles are long gone. The transition from the last generation to the current generation is not burdensome for us or for the industry. This is truly the first time that the industry will go through one of these transitions without necessarily bankrupting some of the participants.”

The head of Take-Two also noted: “The world has changed. When we consider a console release, we have to consider that the PC platform can now generate 40% or 50% of the revenue from console releases. Ten years ago this figure was 1% or 2%. Obviously the world is changing. The previously closed system is truly becoming open. This means that consoles will be more like just hardware systems rather than hardware that has a cost built into the price of the game - which is great news for us.”

After such words addressed to the PC, it is not at all surprising that Red Dead Redemption 2 on this platform (remember that the first part of the game never reached computer owners). Rockstar and Take-Two even noted earlier that a PC version was in the plans from the beginning.

Mr. Zelnick added that the advantages of the new consoles will allow Take-Two developers to be more creative and expand the boundaries of their capabilities, which will only help the publisher. “I think the new platforms create real opportunities and we don't see them having any negative impact on our business or our portfolio of offerings,” the executive added.

Source: 3dnews.ru