2K Sports 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

Dear Shareholders,
2008 was a monumental year for Take-Two.
Our Company delivered record revenues
and profits, despite external distrac-
tions and a challenging global economy.
In addition to the extraordinary consumer
response to Grand Theft Auto IV, these
results refl ected the actions we began taking
in early 2007 to transform our business,
including investment in our superb creative
teams, a highly disciplined approach to
building our portfolio of world-class titles,
the divestiture or revitalization of non-core
businesses, and continued emphasis
on effi ciency throughout our company.
We are very proud of these
achievements that illustrate the three
tenets of our strategy
— Creativity.
Innovation. Effi ciency.
Creativity
Our key drivers in 2008 were Grand The
Auto IV, Midnight Club: Los Angeles,
NBA 2K9, Carnival Games, and Sid Meier’s
Civilization Revolution.
Grand Theft Auto IV in particular was
a phenomenal critical and commercial
success, and surpassed the all-time
entertainment records for day one and
week one retail sales by dollar value
for all media. This franchise continues to
redefine how people play video games.
More and more, consumers and observers
alike see video games as a true art form
that can rival any other media
— both
creatively and commercially.
With more than 1,500 of the industry’s
best developers working in our 15 studios
worldwide, Take-Two has the leading
creative talent building and developing what
we believe to be the strongest portfolio of
top selling franchises in the action/adven-
ture, racing, sports, strategy, role-playing
and family gaming genres. We respect and
nurture creative passion, and invest the
resources to deliver triple-A products that
capture both mindshare and market share.
This year, we entered into new long-term
agreements with key talent at Rockstar
Games who have created some of our
blockbuster brands, including Grand The
Auto, Midnight Club, Max Payne, Bully
and Red Dead Revolver. These agreements
meaningfully align the interests of our
creative teams with our shareholders.
Innovation
We continue to innovate in both gameplay
and technology. Our proprietary Rockstar
Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) and other
technologies enable our studios to create
entertainment experiences that feature
incredible realism, which further immerse
consumers into our virtual worlds. Driving
a Lamborghini down Sunset Boulevard
in Rockstar’s Midnight Club: Los Angeles
feels just like the real thing
— if not be er.
2K Sports’ NBA 2K9 is a shining example
of how thin the line has become between
the graphical quality of a televised NBA
game and an NBA video game. We’ve
incorporated an exciting feature into some
of our sports titles called Living Rosters,
which tracks real-life player performances,
including streaks, slumps and injuries that
enable our virtual athletes to perform true-
to-life throughout their entire seasons.
In addition to creating unique enter-
tainment experiences, we are innovating
through new revenue streams and distri-
bution opportunities. We launched
our fi rst downloadable content off ering
for BioShock in 2008 and redefi ned what
downloadable content can be with the
February 2009 release of The Lost and
Damned, the fi rst of two episodes for
Grand Theft Auto IV. We also released
downloadable content in early 2009 for
Midnight Club: Los Angeles that featured
Strauss Zelnick
Chairman
Lainie Goldstein
Chief Financial Offi cer
— Commi ed to prudently
managing our business
and maintaining our sound
fi nancial position.