2K Sports 2004 Annual Report Download - page 4

In fiscal 2004, Take-Two Interactive Software
demonstrated the strengths that have enabled it to
become a marketplace leader. Our powerful cul-
ture of creativity and innovation culminated in the
launch of one of the best-selling video games in
history. At the same time, we employed strong
financial resources to build on solid brand fran-
chises and to create a broader and more diversi-
fied product portfolio to drive future growth.
Without a doubt, the highlight of fiscal 2004 was
the release of
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Developed by our world-class team at Rockstar
North and produced by Rockstar Games in New
York, the latest installment in the Grand Theft Auto
franchise immediately rose to first place among all
PlayStation®2 titles, and according to NPD
Funworld®was the number one selling game of
2004 across all platforms in the United States. The
compelling story line, open-ended gameplay and
high production values of
Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas
exceeded the expectations of even the
series' most devoted fans. With worldwide sales in
excess of 12 million units as of the end of January
2005 — just four months after its release — Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas
has established a remark-
able record.
The enduring appeal of our blockbuster Grand
Theft Auto franchise is evident. Even as gamers
responded enthusiastically to our newest title, pre-
vious products in the series have continued to sell
strongly, including Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and
the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack . In addition,
our portfolio contains many other successful brands.
Other top products last year included Red Dead
Revolver, Manhunt, Mafia, Max Payne 2: The Fall of
Max Payne, ESPN NFL 2K5
and ESPN NBA 2K5 .
As a testament to our increasing publishing
strength, seven of our titles sold over 1 million
units in fiscal 2004 — a record number for Take-
Two — with two of these titles from our newly
established sports video game business.
Diversification Platform. Take-Two has made great
strides since the end of fiscal 2004 to expand its
business base and develop additional growth
engines. As a platform for several of our diversifi-
cation initiatives, we recently launched a new pub-
lishing label – 2K Games. We are committed to
making 2K Games an important source of licensed
and proprietary titles for console, PC and handheld
platforms.
Much of the focus of our diversification efforts has
been a major initiative in the lucrative sports video
game category - a market with a broad consumer
audience and annual U.S. retail sales of over $1.2
billion in 2004 according to NPD Funworld. 2K
Sports has been established as a division of 2K
Games, and will be the focal point for our strate-
gies to penetrate the sports market.
In the first quarter of fiscal 2005, we acquired the
Visual Concepts and Kush Games sports video
game development studios, including the rights to
the 2K brand. Having worked closely with these
studios on the successful marketing and distribu-
tion of the 2K football, basketball, baseball and
hockey titles, we have enormous regard for their
development talent and we are confident that they
will be important building blocks for our business.
Additionally, we purchased the Indie Built develop-
ment studio from Microsoft, which added the
sports games
Top Spin (tennis), Amped and
Amped 2 (snowboarding), and Links (golf) to our
2K Sports portfolio.
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