We are a leading developer, publisher and marketer of interactive entertainment
for consumers around the globe. We develop and publish products principally
through our two wholly-owned labels Rockstar Games and 2K, as well as our new
Private Division label and Social Point, a leading developer of mobile games.
Our products are currently designed for console gaming systems such as the Sony
Computer Entertainment, Inc. ("Sony") PlayStation®4 ("PS4")
and PlayStation®3 ("PS3"), Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft")
Xbox One® ("Xbox One") and Xbox 360® ("Xbox 360"),
the Nintendo Switch, and personal computers ("PC"), including smartphones
and tablets. We deliver our products through physical retail, digital download,
online platforms and cloud streaming services.
We endeavor to be the most creative, innovative and efficient company in our
industry. Our core strategy is to capitalize on the popularity of video games
by developing and publishing high-quality interactive entertainment experiences
across a range of genres. We focus on building compelling entertainment franchises
by publishing a select number of titles for which we can create sequels and
incremental revenue opportunities through add-on content, microtransactions
and online play. Most of our intellectual property is internally owned and developed,
which we believe best positions us financially and competitively. We have established
a portfolio of proprietary software content for the major hardware platforms
in a wide range of genres, including action, adventure, family/casual, racing,
role-playing, shooter, sports and strategy, which we distribute worldwide. We
believe that our commitment to creativity and innovation is a distinguishing
strength, enabling us to differentiate our products in the marketplace by combining
advanced technology with compelling storylines and characters that provide unique
gameplay experiences for consumers. We have created, acquired or licensed a
group of highly recognizable brands to match the broad consumer demographics
we serve, ranging from adults to children and game enthusiasts to casual gamers.
Another cornerstone of our strategy is to support the success of our products
in the marketplace through innovative marketing programs and global distribution
on platforms and through channels that are relevant to our target audience.
Our business consists principally of our wholly-owned labels Rockstar Games
and 2K, as well as our new Private Division label and Social Point, a leading
developer of mobile games. Rockstar Games is the developer and publisher of
the interactive entertainment industrys most iconic and critically acclaimed
brand, Grand Theft Auto, as well as other successful franchises, including L.A.
Noire, Max Payne, Midnight Club, and Red Dead. We expect Rockstar Games to continue
to be a leader in the action / adventure product category and create groundbreaking
entertainment by leveraging our existing franchises, as well as developing new
brands. 2K publishes high-quality, owned and licensed titles across a range
of genres including shooter, action, role-playing, strategy, sports and family/casual.
2K is the publisher of a number of critically acclaimed, multi-million unit
selling franchises including BioShock, Borderlands, Carnival Games, Evolve,
Mafia, NBA 2K, Sid Meiers Civilization, WWE 2K and XCOM. We expect 2K to continue
to be a leader by building on its existing brands, as well as by developing
new franchises in the future.
Our revenue is primarily derived from the sale of internally developed software
titles and software titles developed by third-parties. Operating margins are
dependent in part upon our ability to release new, commercially successful software
products and to manage effectively their development and marketing costs. We
have internal development studios located in Australia, Canada, China, Czech
Republic, India, Hungary, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Agreements with third-party developers generally give us exclusive publishing
and marketing rights and require us to make development payments, pay royalties
based on product sales and to satisfy other conditions. Development payments
for software titles are typically recoupable against royalties otherwise due
to developers based on software sales. Our agreements with third-party developers
generally provide us with the right to monitor development efforts and to cease
making development payments if specified development milestones are not satisfied.
We also regularly monitor the level of development payments in light of the
expected sales for the related titles.
We continue to engage in evolving business models such as online gaming, virtual
currencies, add-on content, and microtransactions, and we expect to continue
to generate incremental revenue opportunities from these opportunities.
Rockstar Games. Software titles published by our Rockstar Games label are primarily
internally developed. We expect Rockstar Games, our wholly-owned publisher of
the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Midnight Club, Red Dead Redemption, and other
popular franchises, to continue to be a leader in the action / adventure product
category and to create groundbreaking entertainment by leveraging our existing
titles as well as by developing new brands. We believe that Rockstar has established
a uniquely original, popular cultural phenomenon with its Grand Theft Auto series,
which is the interactive entertainment industrys most iconic and critically
acclaimed brand and has sold-in over 280 million units. The latest installment,
Grand Theft Auto V, was released on Sonys PS3 and Microsofts Xbox 360 in September
2013, on Sonys PS4 and Microsofts Xbox One in November 2014, and on PC in
April 2015. Grand Theft Auto V includes access to Grand Theft Auto Online, which
initially launched in October 2013. Rockstar Games is also well known for developing
brands in other genres, including the LA Noire, Bully and Manhunt franchises.
Rockstar Games continues to expand on our established franchises by developing
sequels, offering downloadable episodes, content and virtual currency, and releasing
titles for smartphones and tablets.
2K. Our 2K label has published a variety of popular entertainment properties
across all key platforms and across a range of genres including shooter, action,
role-playing, strategy, sports and family/casual entertainment. We expect 2K
to continue to develop new, successful franchises in the future. 2Ks internally
owned and developed franchises include the critically acclaimed, multi-million
unit selling BioShock, Mafia, Sid Meiers Civilization and XCOM series. 2K also
publishes externally developed franchises such as Borderlands and Evolve. 2Ks
realistic sports simulation titles include our flagship NBA 2K series, which
continues to be the top-ranked NBA basketball video game, and the WWE 2K professional
wrestling series.
Private Division. On December 14, 2017, we announced the formation of Private
Division, our new label that is dedicated to bringing titles from top independent
developers to market. Private Division will publish several upcoming titles
based on new IP from renowned industry creative talent, including the previously
announced Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey from Panache Digital Games, a studio
led by the creator of the Assassins Creed franchise Patrice Désilets;
an unannounced role-playing game ("RPG") currently code-named Project
Wight from The Outsiders, a studio formed by ex-DICE developers David Goldfarb
and Ben Cousins; an unannounced RPG from Obsidian Entertainment led by Tim Cain
and Leonard Boyarsky, co-creators of Fallout; and an unannounced sci-fi first-person
shooter from V1 Interactive, a studio founded by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto.
Additionally, Private Division is the publisher of Kerbal Space Program, which
we acquired in May 2017.
Social Point. Social Point develops and publishes popular free-to-play mobile
games that deliver high quality, deeply-engaging entertainment experiences,
including its two most successful games, Dragon City and Monster Legends. In
addition, Social Point has a robust development pipeline with a number of exciting
games planned for launch over the next two years.
We are continuing to execute on our growth initiatives in Asia, where our strategy
is to broaden the distribution of our existing products and establish an online
gaming presence, especially in China and South Korea. 2K has secured a multi-year
license from the NBA to develop an online version of our NBA simulation game
in China, Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. In October 2012, NBA 2K Online,
our free-to-play NBA simulation game, which was co-developed by 2K and Tencent,
launched commercially on the Tencent Games portal in China.
In February, 2017, we expanded our relationship with the NBA through the creation
of the NBA 2K League, a new, professional competitive gaming league. Launched
in May 2018, this groundbreaking competitive gaming league is jointly owned
by Take-Two and the NBA and consists of teams operated by actual NBA franchises.
The NBA 2K League follows a professional sports league format: competing head-to-head
throughout a regular season, participating in a bracketed playoff system, and
concluding with a championship match-up.