Take-Two will "dominate" 2010 - Divnich

EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich has said that by delaying key titles until the 2010 financial year, Take-Two is set to dominate the market with a portfolio of heavy-hitting releases.

The company has delayed BioShock 2 and Mafia II, and will now release them before October 2010, in the same year as Grand Theft Auto DLC, Red Dead Redemption and the possible release of new Rockstar title Agent.

"The news of BioShock 2 being delayed into fiscal 2010 has drastically changed my view on the Take-Two. I originally anticipated that Take-Two would outperform the industry in fiscal 2010. Now, I expect them to dominate fiscal 2010," commented Divnich.

"BioShock 2, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, Mafia II, additional Grand Theft Auto downloadable content, and the possible launch of Agent should make fiscal 2010 the year of Take-Two. Next year, Take-Two will prove to the videogame industry they are more than just a one game publisher."

Divnich said that the publisher is putting its consumers before the needs of its investors, and a rushed release of BioShock 2 would only harm the company in the long-term.

"Take-Two has made a very intrepid move by putting gamers before investors, an act most publishers wouldn’t usually consider, and even though investors are likely to punish Take-Two for this delay, we as gamers should reward them for their persistence on improving game quality over meeting 'financial expectations'," he said.

"A delayed release will not diminish BioShock 2 sales, where a game whose quality didn’t meet consumer expectations definitely would sell fewer units. As far as I am concerned, Take-Two is just moving numbers from one financial year to another."