author: Bart Swiatek
Take-Two is Not Interested in Epic Games Store Deals
In the wake of recent controversies surrounding Epic Games Store, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive presented his stance on the issue of exclusivity.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- Take-Two is not interested in deals that would assume for exclusivity for a single store;
- The company also does not plan to create its own digital distribution platform;
- In the opinion of the T2’s CEO, the customers should not be forced to choose a shop – the products should be where the customers are.
The PC market has recently become a more and more troubled place. Epic Games Store is waging an agggressive war on Steam, and many developers and publishers are wondering why should they be selling their games on Steam when their own proprietary solutions – or other competing stores – offer much better conditions. As a result, Steam's offer is shrinking and players complain about the need to install numerous clients, which they use for single titles in most cases.
It seems that Take-Two Interactive is not interested in signing an exclusive deal with the Epic Games Store – or any other store, for that matter. This doesn’t mean that the mere existence of competition for Steam is considered to be something wrong. In an interview for GamesIndustry.biz, T2 CEO Strauss Zelnick presented his stance on the issue.
From our point of view, we don't see another retailer as a disruption. We want to be where the consumer is, and if there's a competitive offering that benefits consumers, generally speaking, if the business model makes sense for us, we will support it. We want to be where the consumer is. We see competition on the retail side to be a good thing. It just means more distribution,” says the publisher.
Interestingly, Take-Two is also not interested in setting up its own digital distribution store. Although the publisher has some strong cars in its catalog, which would certainly draw attention as exclusive titles – namely, the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series, loved by both players and critics – however, according to Strauss Zelnick, this is not an optimal business strategy.
We think it's very difficult to try and attract consumers only through a wholly owned captive site.
That's not how consumers shop. To use an analogy that doesn't speak to our business, if you read Random House books, I presume you can get them directly through Random House, but you probably don't. You probably go to Amazon or other sites. So if you have something incredibly powerful, then I suppose you can say to consumers that it's only available here. But generally speaking, when it comes to broad-based entertainment offerings, you are better placed to be where the consumer is, rather than indicating to the consumer where they need to be.
In the opinion of the boss of Take-Your, his company wouldn't work as a seller, because in order to fulfil such a role, you really need to devote yourself to it – and this would require a significant change of priorities.
If your focus is solely on capturing retail margin, then you have to be very convinced you're going to be a great retailer. That's not something that's in our DNA. We make entertainment. We're really not a retailer, says Take-Two CEO.
Take-Two undoubtedly knows how to run a business, as evidenced by the company's excellent financial results, largely thanks to the well-received Red Dead Redemption 2, released last October. We would like to remind you that the said production is currently available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, though there are some speculations that a PC port may be underway as well.