Take-Two: Next-Gen Consoles and Streaming Have Potential to Enhance Our Growth Rate

The arrival of next generation consoles inches closer each day. Many predict that 2020 is the year when we will see the releases for the PS5 and the next Xbox, and by all accounts, that does seem to be the case. For instance, a not-so-small section of the industry already seems to be at work on next-gen games. Excitement surrounding the new systems, then, is quite high. And that’s the case with game developers and publishers as well.

Take-Two Interactive, for instance, seems to be quite excited about the potential that upcoming technologies and systems will hold. Speaking in the firm’s recent earnings call (quotes via Twinfinite), Take-Two president Karl Slatoff talked about next-gen systems and the potential of streaming and subscription services, saying that thanks to the onset of such things, Take-Two can bolster their growth even further.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for our company and the industry,” said Slatoff. “The promise of new technology, more powerful platforms, and emerging distribution and business models such as streaming and subscription services all have the potential to enhance our growth rate and provide incremental margin opportunities.

“We remain highly enthusiastic about our future and believe that with our industry-leading creative assets and commitment to innovation, we’re well-positioned to capitalize on the many positive trends in our industry, and to provide value to our customers.”

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick went on to talk about streaming services, saying that though there is potential for growth in that area, owing to the infrastructure that a successful streaming service requires, it’s also an area where not a lot of companies can have much of an impact right now.

“There are enormous technical barriers because you have to do that with low latency in a multiplayer environment,” said Zelnick. “Is that doable? Technically, I believe it will become doable. Currently it is not doable. How many companies can actually delver such an experience? Well, you need to have hyperscale datacenters all around the world.

“Who has that? Google has that. Facebook has that. Amazon has that. Microsoft has that. Very few other people have it or are going to have it. That gives you a sense on who can be a player on streaming.”

“There are those who believe that by making our video games available to a broad audience, that we’ll automatically increase the size of our market accordingly,” Zelnick continued later. “I wish I could take that position. I’m not sure I can, but I would observe any time you broaden distribution, it’s a good thing for a provider of products.”

In their earnings call, Take-Two also reported massively successful sales figures for Red Dead Redemption 2, which, aided by impressive performances from the likes of NBA 2K19 and Civilization 6 on the Nintendo Switch, resulted in a healthy financial quarter for the company. Read more on that through here.