Take-Two Interactive CEO says developers can’t break into gaming without ‘loads of capital’

16 Feb 2015

Still from Grand Theft Auto V

CEO of Take-Two Interactive Strauss Zelnick has claimed developers will struggle to topple the established gaming companies without “a couple hundred high quality engineers and artists” at their disposal.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Zelnick said that while the rewards for a well-run interactive entertainment company can be huge, putting out a product that will be a large-scale success requires serious capital.

“It’s an expensive business, and the risk profile reflects that,” he said.

“Those very expenses – production, marketing, overhead, in the case of sports titles, licensing – they do create a risk profile. And from our point of view it embeds the winners even further. It actually creates a barrier to entry in our business.”

Asked whether an amatuer with nothing more than an iPad could impact the industry, Zelnick asserted that would-be developers “cannot get in without having a couple hundred high quality engineers and artists, loads of capital and lots of money to market the title”.

As the owners of both Rockstar Games and 2K Games, Take-Two publishes the Grand Theft Auto series as well as the popular 2K sports titles. Other games developed by the firm include the Midnight Club and Manhunt series, as well as BioShock and Borderlands.

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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