In a recent interview with Protocol, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that he is thankful the company didn’t “waste any money” on VR, despite the fact that they’ve published three VR-exclusive games with another “AAA open-world title in VR” currently in development.
In the article, the interviewer is talking to Zelnick about emerging technologies, specifically cloud gaming such as Google Stadia. Zelnick responds, “Any new distribution vehicle that offers high-quality, efficiency and a reasonable price is good for our business because broader distribution is always better in the entertainment business.”
He then goes on to say, “That said, there was all this hype for years about VR, and I wasn’t very compelled by that. Thankfully, as a result, we didn’t waste any money on it.”
Take-Two has already published three VR games. For those unaware, Take-Two Interactive is the parent company for both Rockstar Games and 2K. This means they’ve directly funded L.A. Noire: The VR Case Files, Borderlands 2 VR, and the NBA 2KVR Experience, not to mention a fourth one on the way from the same studio that created L.A. Noire VR.
Unfortunately the interview does not return to this comment to get further clarity on what he’s implying, but it’s likely that he simply means they did not pivot their entire business model to embracing VR and did not spin up a multitude of expensive VR projects. Instead, they outsourced a couple of ports and a basketball mini-game.
What do you think the Take-Two CEO meant by this comment? Does this mean the reportedly “AAA” open-world title is not receiving as much funding as before? Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
