In a somewhat shocking (but not entirely, given rumors from last June) turn of events, Take-Two Interactive has sold Private Division to an unknown buyer. The latter will still publish its previously unannounced titles, sans No Rest for the Wicked, but what was the holding company’s reasoning?
CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety that it was to “focus our resources on growing our core businesses for the long term,” but went into more details with GamesIndustry. Long story short, Take-Two is “in the business of making great big hits”, noting that the scale of Private Division’s projects was “on the smaller side.”
“We made this strategic decision so that we could focus all of our resources on growing our core and mobile businesses for the long term. We’re really best at these big AAA experiences. We have the biggest intellectual properties in the interactive entertainment business and some of the biggest intellectual properties in the overall entertainment business, and to make sequels to existing beloved franchises, as well as create new hit intellectual properties, is our mission.
“The team of Private Division did a great job supporting independent developers and, almost to a one, every project they supported did well. However, the scale of those projects was, candidly, on the smaller side, and we’re in the business of making great big hits.”
The company’s biggest successes are Grand Theft Auto 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, the NBA 2K series, and Borderlands (horrible movie aside), so the logic seems sound. However, Take-Two’s actions before the sale weren’t, as it shut down Roll7 (OlliOlli World, Rollerdrome) and Intercept Games (Kerbal Space Program 2) while claiming that wasn’t the case. A spokesperson has since confirmed both studios’ closure to GamesIndustry.
As for who bought Private Division, Zelnick said that they would be revealed “relatively soon.” The publishing label has two titles, Weta Games’ Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game and Game Freak’s Project Bloom, launching in 2025.