Recently, there has been a wave of acquisitions and mergers and acquisitions in the game industry, and even large-scale companies such as Activision Blizzard and B Club have not been spared. Naturally, many have turned their attention to Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar. Will the company be snapped up by Microsoft, Sony, or any other deep-pocketed tech company?
While possible, on a recent earnings call, T2 CEO Zelnick largely dismissed the idea, saying they like being a “standalone company.”
“We are a public company and represent the interests of our shareholders. That said, as an independent business, our record of creating value is fantastic, especially if you don’t consider the past three months. We think our future is very bright, we like to be an independent company. But we’re here for shareholders.”
Take-Two is not considering a sale but is actually actively acquiring other companies themselves, including mobile gaming giant Zynga for nearly $13 billion. It will continue to acquire other studios in the future.
“We’re looking for creative deals that bring us best-in-class IP and a great development team, and we’ll continue to do so in the future. There’s no question that the acquisition of Zynga is a big deal for the company, and we have a lot of work to do to ensure that our Value is realized and the focus will be primarily on organic growth. But that does not prevent us from continuing to make selective, disciplined acquisitions for the Private Division and other businesses, including the mobile segment.”
Clearly, T2 sees itself as a competitor to Microsoft and Sony, not an acquisition target. main reason? “GTA 5” has sold more than 165 million sales, and the momentum is not weakening.