Take-Two: "We need to get bigger"

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick has said that the publisher needs to get bigger in order to turn a profit in the years when a Grand Theft Auto game isn't released.

Speaking to the LA Times, Zelnick explained that the company's expansive distribution network isn't cost effective when a GTA game doesn't come out.

It's an issue that Take-Two tried to address by selling off its Jack of All Games distribution business last year. However, the problem is obvious looking at the company's last two fiscal years. In 2008 - when GTA IV was released - it generated net income of $97 million, and in 2009 it lost $138 million.

"We have a worldwide distribution and publishing footprint, and in a GTA year that cost basis is fine, but in a non-GTA year it's too high," said Zelnick. "We need to get bigger."

The executive proposed that Take-Two released games in a more timely manner - however he said that it won't resort to annual releases due to the impact that would have on creativity.

"We can make quality video games and release them in a somewhat more orderly fashion than we have done historically," Zelnick said. "We'll stop short of a strictly annual schedule, however, because I think that is the enemy of pushing the envelope creatively."

The publisher's upcoming release schedule includes new IPs LA Noire and Red Dead Redemption and franchise sequels Civilization 5 and Mafia II, and Zelnick confirmed that it is working on a sequel to the 6 million-selling Carnival Games.

He added that success would be achieved when the company makes money during a year when a GTA game isn't released.

"The barometer is when we are profitable in a non-GTA year," he said. "I think we can get there. I certainly aspire to it."