Date: 04-29-2008
Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA-IV) is slated to be launched on April 29 and is expected to be one of the biggest debuts in video-gaming history. Take-Two Interactive has a lot at stake with the franchise as it struggles to avoid the hostile $2 billion takeover bid offer from Electronic Arts Inc. (EA). Analysts believe that the expected record sales of the game will boost Take-Two’s stock price and force EA to up the bid. The total sales of the 11-year-old franchise have amounted to a staggering 65 million copies worldwide, and reviews suggest that the latest release may be the best one of the franchise. Grand Theft Auto, which lets players engage in all sorts of criminal activities and involves a lot of blood and gore, has been marketed as being for “adults only,” owing to its explicit content. Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said, “As we develop more hits like ‘BioShock’ and ‘Civilization,’ we’ve become a much more diverse company. That said, ‘GTA’ is the 1,000-pound gorilla.”
