Take 2 Interactive

Take-Two Interactive Software is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment for consumers around the globe. 

The Company develops and publishes products principally through Rockstar Games, 2K, Private Division, and T2 Mobile Games. Our products are currently designed for console gaming systems, PC, and Mobile including smartphones and tablets, and are delivered through physical retail, digital download, online platforms and cloud streaming services.

1993: Take-Two was Founded in 1993. Through family and private investors, the 21-year-old entrepreneur (Ryan Brant) was able to raise $1.5 million and establish Take-Two in the fall. The trend was started by Mechadeus, a San Francisco game developer that had used an unknown actress in its offering, Critical Pass. 

1994: By June, the company had acquired and absorbed InterOptica, a software publisher owned by Wan Chai and headed by Catherine Winchester (later Heald); the latter became Take-Two's first president. Released in December, the game would sell 300,000 copies worldwide over the next six months and generate a healthy profit for the company.

1995: In February, GameTek acquired a stake in Take-Two, aligning the studio with its own Alternative Reality Technologies. By July, Take-Two had established its head office in the Silicon Alley area of New York City.

1996: In February, Take-Two reached an agreement with Acclaim to distribute its titles, starting with Ripper and followed by Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller and Star Crusader. Take-Two's first purchase was completed in September when it paid nearly $1.75 million in cash and stock for Mission Studios Corporation, a flight simulation game developer whose only product to date was JetFighter III. The game was subsequently released by Take-Two two months later. Take-Two expanded in its Latrobe location and took over the second floor of its office building, which had been occupied by the Chestnut Ridge Chapter of the American Red Cross.

1997: The company announced this intent in April, looking to raise $8.2 million. The company had its initial public offering (IPO) on April 15th, being listed under the ticker symbol TTWO on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Furthermore, in July, Take-Two acquired Inventory Management Systems, Inc. and Creative Alliance Group, Inc.

1998: Take-Two continued to grow its business, and Seremet sold his stake in the company.

1999: In March, Take-Two added the budget software publishing and distribution operations in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark of FunSoft Nordic A.S., which was renamed All Games Scandinavia. Revenues in 1999 increased by more than 57 percent over the previous year, topping $300 million, while net income more than doubled to $16.3 million. Take-Two also began to look to the Internet, an area that held great promise for the future of interactive gaming. Investors took some notice of Take-Two's activities this year, bidding up its stock above $13, although the price would again sink to the $7 level before finding a middle ground. Take-Two made a number of purchases to build up its distribution business.

2000: Take-Two, however, continued to increase sales at a steady rate despite a general downturn in the tech sector, posting revenues of $387 million and income of almost $25 million.

2001: In February, Brant stepped down as CEO of Take-Two to serve as its chairman, being replaced in the former role by Sumner. However, during this period, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began examining Take-Two's business records, based on complaints filed in 2001 that Take-Two's earnings did not seem to match figures of game sales reported by NPD Group. He founded ZelnickMedia a few years later in 2001 as a private equity firm to focus on media and interactive entertainment investments.

2004: Take-Two paid US$22.3 million to Infogrames for the rights to the Civilization series. Both studios had been extensively behind several sports simulation games, branded through ESPN, and typically released updated versions each year, using a 2K brand to differentiate versions (such as ESPN NFL 2K5). Also, Take-Two struck a deal with Sega to help publish these titles.

2005: Take-Two began a host of acquisitions, spending more than US$80 million buying game developers.

2006: Brant, who had remained with the company in the non-executive role of "Vice President of Production", ultimately resigned from the company in October, following a four-month disability leave due to a bad back. Actions taken against Take-Two included an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive advertising, to which Take-Two and Rockstar settled this year on fines for any future violations of content ratings. A fire damaged part of the Take-Two headquarters building in New York as well. There were also issues with Take-Two failing to make its revenue targets, having lost US$163.3 million.

2007: In early January, Take-Two relocated the headquarters for 2K to Novato, California to 65,000 square feet of space at Hamilton Landing, an office park that had repurposed the former hangar structures from the Hamilton Army Airfield. In December, Take-Two established 2K Marin (named after Marin County, where Novato is located) and expanded its presence at Hamilton Landing. A separate investigation by the SEC found further issues with Brant and two other executives of the company. The company announced a major restructuring mid-year, following the takeover.

2008: In mid-February, EA made a US$25-per-share all-cash transaction offer worth around US$1.9 billion to the board of Take-Two, subsequently revising it to US$26 per share after being rejected and making the offer known to the public. Electronic Arts (EA) CEO, John Riccitiello, stated that, with the establishment of Rockstar, Take-Two effectively invented the "label" corporate structure, which EA followed.

2009: Subsequently, in December, Take-Two sold Jack of All Games to Synnex for about US$43 million, leaving the distribution market and focusing solely on development and publishing.

2013: The move to buy back shares was seen by analysts of the company's assurance in Grand Theft Auto V, which was released in September. As well, Take-Two began to repurchase about 7.5 million outstanding shares of the company (about 10%), based on the company's projections that it would remain profitable over the next several years.

2014: Leslie Benzies, former President of Rockstar North, took a sabbatical leave from Rockstar on September 1.

2016: In January, it was announced that he had left the company. On April 12, Benzies started legal action against Rockstar and Take-Two claiming $150 million in unpaid royalties. Take-Two invested in mobile-game developer Scopely in July.

2017: On May 31st, Take-Two Interactive acquired Kerbal Space Program. Later, Take-Two announced the formation of its Private Division publishing label on December 14th.

2018: On March 9, S&P Global announced the addition of Take-Two Interactive to the S&P 500, joining two other major video game publishers EA and Activision Blizzard. In March, Benzies' litigation against Rockstar and Take-Two suffered a significant setback when the companies succeeded in dismissing 12 out of 18 of his claims, though the court did rule that Benzies "remains entitled to receive certain royalties" as part of his compensation. The inaugural season is planned to launch in May. Grand Theft Auto V has since sold nearly 100 million units, making it one of the most successful video games ever and bringing an estimated US$6 billion to Take-Two, increasing its stock value by more than 600%.

2019: Take-Two and the NBA signed a seven-year, US$1.1 billion licensing deal to extend Take-Two's rights to develop the NBA's 2K games in January. A then-yet-to-be-named studio under the 2K brand in the Silicon Valley region of the San Francisco Bay Area was established by Take-Two in February. Brant died of cardiac arrest in March at the age of 47. In May, Rockstar Games announced that they had acquired Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze Studios for $7.9 million, with the sale having been finalized later that same month.

2020: Take-Two offered to buy out Codemasters in November in a deal valued at approximately US$973 million.

2021: Take-Two formally withdrew its offer in January. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia acquired 3.9 million shares of Take-Two, valued at $826 million, in February. While the offer awaited regulatory approval and was expected to be complete by early this year, both Take-Two and Codemasters' board of directors confirmed the deal.

2022: Take-Two Interactive announced its intent to acquire the mobile developer Zynga in January, in a cash-and-stock deal with a value of $12.7 billion, with Take-Two acquiring all outstanding shares of Zynga at $9.86 apiece.

"The mission of the company is to be the most creative, the most innovative and the most efficient entertainment company - not interactive entertainment company, entertainment company - on earth," Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software

“THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS The interactive entertainment industry is today's most dynamic segment in all of entertainment. Creativity and innovation are among the core tenets of our organization and are integral drivers of our continued success.”