"We really can't talk about next-gen, because we're not the ones who can talk about it first," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said, while speaking to investors and reporters on the company's third quarter results call.
That didn't stop him from dropping hints.
Take-Two's Next-Gen Plans?
More than once in the call, he teased what he called an "extensive pipeline of unannounced titles." While it's obvious that these won't all be for next-generation consoles, Zelnick did say that "we're planning as well as we can, and we think we're extremely well positioned."
"Our creative teams have a burning desire to bring consumers what they want when they want it," Zelnick said.
According to Zelnick, his company is positioned to successfully make the generational transition because it has what he calls the "four requirements" -- "strong owned intellectual property, strong creative teams in-house, strong technology, and a strong balance sheet."
Budgets Won't Go Up
Zelnick did say that the company doesn't "have any reason to believe our dev budgets will change significantly" in the transition to next gen. "We don't expect to see a meaningful change in what it costs us to release these top quality products," Zelnick said.
This starkly contrasts with comments from Epic's Tim Sweeney, who expects next-gen budgets to double.
Next-Gen GTA?
One thing we might not see so quickly, though, is the rumored next-generation version of Grand Theft Auto V, if Zelnick's words are anything to go by.
"There is not one gamer who is going to sit out of GTA V hoping that something that is going to come along down the road that's better. It's going to blow everyone away, and it's going to be in the market in September," he said, when questioned whether there might be a "dual-generation launch" for the game due to the proximity of its release date to Sony and Microsoft's presumed Fall console launches.
"There is not one gamer who is going to sit out of GTA V hoping that something that is going to come along down the road that's better"...
Right here...I'm one gamer. While I'm looking forward to playing it, I have enough backlog to hold me over until after the next consoles release and we get a clear picture of "next-gen" games.
"next-gen" is going to look a whole lot like current generation if you've had access to a PC in the last 3-5 years. DX10 and DX11 features are cropping up in the latest Crytek games and Epic is showing off demos like The Samaritan.
As the consoles mature in another couple years we'll start to see things that will make your PC bleed, then the cycle will rinse and repeat as new video cards are released every 6 months on the PC front. By 2016, your typical mid-range gaming PC will be on top again.
@Ben: I totally agree...I really can't see Sony and Microsoft dumping serious cash on advanced proprietary hardware that would put them ahead of current high-end PCs (and keep the price affordable). It may be a significant improvement over the Xbox360 and PS3, but not if you compare them to PCs :)
does this mean GTA will come on PC in september too?
"There is not one gamer who is going to sit out of GTA V hoping that something that is going to come along down the road that's better"
For me it would mean I can play on PC since consoles have limited hardware.
Or it means GTA V will not release on PC at all...that would be very bad for R* and T2 imo. I don't think I could support a company which doesn't support PC gaming.
Right here...I'm one gamer. While I'm looking forward to playing it, I have enough backlog to hold me over until after the next consoles release and we get a clear picture of "next-gen" games.
As the consoles mature in another couple years we'll start to see things that will make your PC bleed, then the cycle will rinse and repeat as new video cards are released every 6 months on the PC front. By 2016, your typical mid-range gaming PC will be on top again.
"There is not one gamer who is going to sit out of GTA V hoping that something that is going to come along down the road that's better"
For me it would mean I can play on PC since consoles have limited hardware.
Or it means GTA V will not release on PC at all...that would be very bad for R* and T2 imo. I don't think I could support a company which doesn't support PC gaming.