Following the release of Take Two Interactive’s fourth quarter and fiscal year financials, CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke about purchasing additional studios to add to its group.

Speaking to Games Industry International, Zelnick talked about the revenue the company had earned and what it could be used for. “We have the opportunity to support organic growth with our balance sheet. We also have the ability to do inorganic growth. And we have the opportunity to return money to our shareholders.”

That “inorganic” growth involves picking up existing game studios. While Zelnick and Take Two have built up the internal studios over time, it’s not against purchasing a studio that is in line with their approach. “If there’s an opportunity to grow inorganically with a company that’s consistent with our disciplined approach, then we would absolutely do so. There’s no question this company is in growth mode.”

As for digital distribution – with digital revenue increasing by 65 percent over the previous year for $435.1 million – Zelnick is excited for the same but will continue to focus on traditional retail sales.

“We’re very excited about what digital distribution allows us to do. Among other things, it has allowed us to build this significant recurring revenue model. But typical retail is still (up to) 80 percent of the market. Our view is bring consumers the best products on whatever devices they have and otherwise be flexible about the channels used to get it to them.”

Take Two Interactive recently announced shipment figures for its biggest releases of the past year, with Grand Theft Auto 5 shipping 33 million units. Stay tuned for more information.

“The underlying question is, ‘Is retail going away?’. No. And maybe that’s funny coming from a digital guy, but I think retail’s a strong part of our industry and it will continue to be so. Over time, when it goes to 50-50 or maybe beyond, will some stores close? Probably, just like some record stores closed. Maybe the store experience will morph. Maybe you’ll see more of an Apple-type experience store where you’re able to do things, but I don’t think it’ll go completely away.

“The physical store is a well-designed mechanism for discovery. You have expert help right there, a wide variety of products you can go through relatively quickly. That’s hard to do still on a console or a PC. There’s lots of content, but how do you easily discover what’s the best thing to do? We haven’t solved that.”

Nevertheless, with digital sales on the rise and platforms like Steam offering better deals over retail stores, one wonders how well an expert opinion will keep the latter afloat.

And according to Raymond, in an interview with Digital Spy, the rising costs of AAA titles are going to become a problem sooner rather than later. “I think the big question to me, as the expectations of these big triple-As keep on growing and the consoles become more powerful and teams get bigger, is how do we keep the costs in line.

“That’s for sure one of the things that is going to stifle innovation eventually. Anytime you want to make a big triple-A, you’re spending, let’s say $100 million, you’re not going to want to take a chance. It’s got to be, I’m making the next Call of Duty or the Assassin’s Creed and I know it’s going to make ‘X’ amount, so we’ll make money. I think that’s the tougher thing.

“I think it depends on what type of game you’re making, but all games I think we have to invest in tools to make people more efficient, to perhaps make 10 times the amount of content that we were making before with the same amount of effort. That’s the only way we’re going to keep up. So there has to be a big investment there.

Of course, game development as a whole has changed. Some of the most successful titles of our time have come from indie developers, including Minecraft and Terraria. Digital distribution is on the rise, even for big-name games like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

“The reality is the industry is changing, the way people are consuming games is changing, the expectations are changing. More stuff is online. What does that mean? There are some games like The Walking Dead which are starting to have interesting episodic [content], but that doesn’t apply to all games. What’s the business model that makes sense to you? What’s going on with free-to-play, what does that mean for the console market?”

Raymond stated the example of Team Fortress 2, saying that, “I think that’s a great business model to investigate for some games.” Namely one that doesn’t affect game balance but still gets players enthusiastically involved for customizing their characters.

Recently speaking to GamesIndustry International about Microsoft’s about-turn on DRM policies for the Xbox One, Darling stated that, “It was interesting how the market did pull back with Microsoft. I don’t think Microsoft sold it in the right way – they weren’t strong enough. I don’t think they should have had a physical drive on Xbox One – it’s like having a dead body handcuffed to you. It’s dragging along this dead body and it’s going to slow them down. They’ve let the market pull them back but I think that was a mistake.”

Given that physical media sales on the down-low and digital sales are increasing, Darling expects console video games to eventually adopt a primarily digital distribution model in order for prices to go down and compete with iOS and Android games. “The price of console games has to drop otherwise they will not be competitive with Apple and Google. The industry will definitely move in that direction, and I think it will move very quickly.

“It’s a bit like flipping a coin – at some stage it will just flip. It will change in six months and everybody will wonder why it never changed before. There’s no point in distributing physical media when the internet exists.”

For now though, Microsoft will continue with the current plan for the Xbox One, especially in the face of the PS4’s support for used games.

Attending a Gamelab conference session in Barcelona, Spain, Assassin’s Creed creator and former THQ Montreal creative director Patrice Désilets talked about how the future of the gaming industry is digital.

“Right now we are at a crossroads in our industry. But I don’t believe the AAA blockbuster will die. Maybe the way it is distributed will change, but it won’t die.” In reference to the reversal of the Xbox One’s policies, Désilets stated that, “Yeah, games come on disc, and I get it guys you were really pissed off. But, deep down, nobody cares about not having CDs any more. The future is digital, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

As of now, Désilets is busy fighting a lawsuit against Ubisoft following his termination from the company after their purchase of THQ Montreal.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

The publisher revealed that since its launch in September, FIFA 13 has sold over 14.5 million units, with year-to-year sales of the franchise having increased by 30 percent. Total revenue netted from digital avenues for the game was revealed to be up by 94 percent from the previous year, totaling $200 million.

Origin, EA’s digital content platform, also has more than 47 million registered users with 20 million of those users being on mobile.

Executive chairman and interim CEO Larry Probst stated that, “As we enter a new fiscal year, EA is well-positioned for dynamic growth on next generation consoles, PCs, and mobile platforms. With world-class games, a rapidly growing digital business, and top-notch creative talent, we are excited about EA’s strategy for fiscal year 2014 and beyond.”

CFO Blake Jorgensen also stated that, “EA has a solid operating plan with disciplined R&D spending and a sharp focus on delivering the best games and services. We are holding our fiscal year 2014 operating expenses flat to the prior year – a significant achievement in a console transition year.”

The company stated that, “Gearbox Software has prevailed as the highest bidder in the acquisition of the Homeworld franchise from THQ. Brian Martel, Gearbox Software’s Chief Creative Officer, has great love and respect for Relic’s brilliant, fun and innovative game and personally spearheaded the acquisition.

“Brian intends as first priority to direct Gearbox’s interest to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today’s leading digital platforms.”

So you can look out for both games to be on Steam soon, if not PSN/XBLA. Will we see a sequel or an adaptation for iOS/Android? That’s the dream – let’s hope Gearbox is capable of carrying it forward when their bid is finalized come May end.

Little Inferno is now available for Mac through Steam and other digital distruibution channels. Mac version of Little Inferno is an identical port of the PC and Wii U. People who bought the PC version of the game will be able to download the Mac version for free.

Little Inferno is a unique game where players can buy many kinds of different items, such as exploding fish, batteries, robots, credit cards, unstable nuclear devices and more, and then set them on fire in a fireplace.This title is made by Tomorow’s Corporation.

Tomorrow’s Corporation have stated that the Linux version of Little Inferno is “almost ready for testing”. However, an update that was originally released in January for the iOS version will add support for iPhone 4 and iPhone Touch 4th-gen

Are you guys looking forward to it?

Stay tuned for more news on GamingBolt and leave any comments you have down below.

Ryan told CVG: “It’s interesting because previously the whole debate took a very binary approach. You either bought a game in a shop or online. But what we’re now starting to see the business adopt hybrid models where the retailer is able to play a really legitimate and substantial role in the digital value chain.

Also I would say, and certainly for the next five years, that disc-based distribution is going to be the norm.”

Ryan then went on to comment on the wildly varying average download speeds across Europe, suggesting the infrastructure for digital-only simply isn’t there yet: “If you take Uncharted 3’s file size, and look at the average internet speeds people have in Southern Europe, it would take about two days to download it. So discs are going to be around for some time yet.”

For the full interview with Jim Ryan, pop on over to CVG.

EA’s Frank Gibeau has mentioned that it is inevitable that the company will be 100% digital in the future, but they will still continue to provide games on whatever format the demand is.

“For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future we’re going to be a 100% digital company, period. It’s going to be there some day. It’s inevitable,” he told GamesIndustry.

“It’s in the near future. It’s coming. We have a clear line of sight on it and we’re excited about it. The ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer. If the gamer wants to get the game through a digital download and that’s the best way for them to get it, that’s what we’re going to do,” he added.]

He also revealed that market trends decides the way the company will be heading.

“If customers want to buy a game at retail, they can do that too. We’ll continue to deliver games in whatever media formats make sense and as one ebbs and one starts to flow, we’ll go in that direction.”