‘Mafia 2’ Will Be First Stereoscopic 3D Game From Take-Two

The first stereoscopic 3D game from Take-Two Interactive will be the PC version of Mafia 2, shipping Aug. 24 by its 2K Games division, the publisher said. The PC SKU will use Nvidia’s 3D Vision technology to achieve the stereoscopic effects, CEO Ben Feder said in a Tuesday earnings call.

But the publisher hasn’t disclosed any plans for a stereoscopic 3D console game. It also hasn’t said which of its games will support the coming PlayStation Move and Project Natal motion control systems from Sony and Microsoft for the PS3 and Xbox 360. On the new control systems, Chairman Strauss Zelnick said only that we'll “see some interesting things” at E3 next week in Los Angeles. “I do think there’s some terrific opportunities with these new devices,” he said.

Take-Two shipped more than 2 million copies globally of the first Mafia game, Feder said. It will back the sequel’s release with “a major marketing campaign that is already under way,” he said. The campaign includes deals in conjunction with Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop, who will each provide exclusive content packs to consumers who pre-order the title, he said. Walmart.com will offer a $10 e-gift card to those who pre-order the game, he said. A demo program will be conducted in August on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Marketplace and the Internet, leading up to the game’s release, he said: “Additional marketing activities will include national TV, outdoor campaigns and print and online ads.” Take-Two didn’t specify how much it’s spending on the campaign.

Of the delay in Max Payne 3’s release until next fiscal year (CED June 9 p13), Feder said Take-Two “does not take the movement of any title lightly.” But he said the company’s “recent success” with Red Dead Redemption illustrates the “importance and the benefit of giving a title the time that it needs in order to fulfill its potential in the marketplace.”

Take-Two’s revenue for Q2 ended April 30 soared 54 percent from a year earlier to $268 million, from strong demand for the new titles BioShock 2, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on the PS3 and PC, and Major League Baseball 2K10, the company said. The results were also helped by continued strong sales of catalog titles including NBA 2K10 and Grand Theft Auto IV, it said. Catalog sales were about 32 percent of revenue, Chief Financial Officer Lainie Goldstein said. Take-Two posted a profit from continuing operations of $16.9 million, 20 cents per share, after posting a loss from continuing operations of $10.4 million, 13 cents, in Q2 last year.

Take-Two boosted its forecast for the fiscal year ending Oct. 31 due to “the successful launch of Red Dead Redemption” in Q2 and the company’s “better than expected” Q2 results, it said. It now expects to report sales of $880 million to $980 million, up from its prior estimate of $725 million to $925 million. But Zelnick predicted this year “may continue to be challenging for the industry and for our company.” The company still expects to lose about $30 million to $35 million, or 38 cents to 44 cents per share, from its Major League Baseball division this fiscal year on a non-GAAP basis, said Goldstein. That was factored into its forecast, she said.

The company’s Rockstar Games division released Red Dead Redemption May 18, in Q3, and it has shipped more than 5 million copies so far, Take-Two said. It’s “off to a great start,” said Goldstein. The game was already “profitable” and was “on track to become more profitable this year,” she said. Take-Two was “cautiously optimistic” that the title “does have some legs, and we've seen sales reflect that,” Feder said. In comparison, the company indicated it saw a relatively quick drop-off in sales of BioShock 2 since its release early this year. The game has since become heavily discounted.

Take-Two released its first game for the iPad, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, in Q2. The publisher “will selectively introduce more of our franchises” on Apple’s devices, Feder said. Its Rockstar Games studio will release an iPad version of the handheld game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars “later this month,” he said.

The publisher has shipped more than 3 million copies of NBA 2K 10, Feder said. Citing April NPD data, he said the game had 75 percent market share on the Xbox 360 and a 66 percent share on the PS3 in the U.S. among NBA games.

Digital sales were “a meaningful contributor” to the Q2 results, representing about 9 percent of total revenue in Q2, a nearly 21 percent increase from Q1, Zelnick said. “Any triple-A title needs some sort of after-market content to be competitive” now, he said.