Posts Tagged ‘take-two’

Take-Two Loses Legal Battle Over Domain BioShock.com

Regarding the BioShock.com web domain, Take-Two Interactive loses the lawsuit. The court decides that the said domain was not used in the promotion of video-game related advertisements.

If anyone has noticed the domain BioShock.com, one may have seen that it was related to biology related subjects and it was not the official site of Take-Two.

The domain was under legal dispute for some time. It is actually owned by Name Administration. The game developer claims, “The only reason for [Name Administration's] use of the Domain Name is to trade off the value and goodwill of [Take-Two's] BioShock trademark by diverting users to third-party commercial websites for profit.”

Take-Two also argues that Name Administration allegedly implicate in domain squatting. It registers domains with name that involve a trademarked owned by someone else. It intents to make profit by displaying advertisements on the website.

However, Take-Two will still use BioShockGame.com for its BioShock and BioShock 2. BioShock2.com is also in the same situation as BioShock.com. Learning lesson, Take-Two has registered BioShockInfinite.com to make Irrational’s upcoming creation safe.

BioShock 2 was succesful but not hugely says Take-Two boss

Take-Two recently said that though the FBS sequel BisShock2 was profitable but it was not as successful as it could have been.

Take-Two boss Ben Feder said, “We are in the business of creating huge franchises and launching hits. Even BioShock 2 is profitable for the company and is a great success.”

He also added that the franchise is viable and also it has a lasting impact on consumers. Feder adds further that the game was successful, but not a huge success and the company is looking forward to other hits that are going to be released this year.

Feder said to the media that surprise factor is always there and sometimes the surprise work and sometimes it may not work in favor.

On the other hand the sale of Wild West romp Red Dead Redemption was beyond expectations. Feder said that they had a sense that the title would do well in the industry.

BioShock 2 sales lower than expected

Take-Two announced recently its financial results for Q2 ended April 30, 2010.

According to the official announcement, the net revenue of the company was $268 million. It showed an increase of 54% over the last year’s recorded $174.3 million in the same quarter.

Lainie Goldstein, the chief financial officer, said that the 32% of the revenue has been driven by the games such as NBA 2k10 and Grand Theft Auto IV. He also noted that BioShock 2 had contributed to the increased revenue, which was a profitable endeavor.

However, he also added that the sales was lower than expected. He said, “The title was well-received by the media and was profitable for us. However, sales slowed down sooner than we had expected”

The operating income of the company also rose to $16.9 million and the total revenue for the first-half financial year was $431.2 million.

Take-Two will not leave franchise

Take-Two Interactive earlier said that the sales of BioShock 2 were “slower than expected,” but they also mentioned further that the game was profitable.

Take-Two leadership later has given clarification that the team does not intend to leave the franchise behind.

Well, 2K Marin is now working on X-Com and this is something unsure about the future of BioShock.

Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, said: “2K Marin is working on X-Com. As it relates to BioShock, we think BioShock is still one of the most important franchises in the history. We intend to support the franchise. It [another BioShock game] doesn’t have to be at 2K Marin.”

After the success of the original BioShock, it was declared by Take-Two the intentions to develop many sequels to the game.

Well, right now Take-Two is focussing on offering more additional downloadable content for the BioShock 2. The company is also promising of the extensions of the single-player world. However, there has been no announcements yet made on this.

Take-Two third quarter did not perform as expected

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the developer of BioShock 2, has warned that its fourth-quarter fiscal results will be missing expectations and it particularly puts the blame on its baseball videogames.

Recently in its statement, Take2 said it likely won’t be profitable in its current fiscal year.

The New York-based developer has given a string of disappointing forecasts because the company is suffering from the broad retail weakness and also it is lacking a new release in its “Grand Theft Auto” series.

It is also seen in the recent months that rival game makers have been the source of new best-sellers, in general videogame sales.

For the third quarter Oct. 31, Take2’s earnings were excluding of write-downs and stock-compensation costs in a range of 5 cents to 10 cents a share on revenue of $325 million to $350 million. The projections issued in the month of September by Take-Two estimated off 25 cents and $24 million.

In the present quarter with holiday-shopping season the company forecasts to be losing 40 cents to 50 cents a share on revenue of $210 million to $260 million.

Take2 also informed that the company expects a loss for its new fiscal year of 40 cents to 60 cents per share.