Back in January this year, video game developer Take-Two announced its acquisition of Zynga. The social game developers would get new owners for the massive amount of $12.7 billion. That certainly isn’t the highest amount, after Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft for nearly $69 billion. However, is still a very impressive amount. It’s way more than what the Embracer Group has paid for some of Square Enix’s profitable IPs. Take-Two, which happens to be the big company behind Rockstar and other companies, announced it will close the deal on May 23. The deal will, in fact, be fully completed before the end of June. The deal could pretty much result in a new GTA Mobile.
Shareholders of both companies on Thursday have approved all proposals related to the merger. It is expected to close next Monday, May 23. Zynga shares will be suspended after the market closes on Friday and will no longer be part of the Nasdaq exchange. Interestingly, it will take the position as the largest acquisition in the history of the gaming industry. We already said that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard greatly surpasses this, however, this deal will take some time to be completed. Until then, the Take-Two acquisition will get the crown.
Take-Two will boost efforts on mobile platforms, GTA Mobile is a strong possibility
According to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, Zynga’s expertise can help it advance its free-to-play and cross-platform ambitions and bring its console and PC properties to mobile devices.
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To those unaware, Take-Two has its headquarters in New York and stands as one of the biggest game developers and publishers in the United States. It owns a large number of studios, such as 2K Games and Rockstar Games, and its representative works currently include the “Grand Theft Auto” series and the “Bioshock” series. Zynga, on the other hand, is a social gaming company headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Its representative works include the “FarmVille” (Happy Farm) series, “Treasure Isle”, and “Texas Hold’em”.
Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau added, “We are excited to go one step further by combining Zynga’s free-to-play expertise and next-generation mobile platform with Take-Two’s best-in-class features and renowned intellectual property”. This may result in all-new GTA Mobile. After all, the game would perfectly fit the current mobile industry.
For now, the exact future of Zynga under Take-Two control is unclear. The company may port or create new IPs for mobile platforms. The company’s most successful title, GTA V, for example, is one of the most profitable online games in history. The game has would nearly 170 million copies worldwide, which is a world record for the gaming industry. Maybe in the future, a mobile port of GTA V may turn into a reality. After all, the hardware of mobile smartphones is improving every year.
Take-Two has a lot of IPs to reveal in the coming years. However, all the expectation and hype is floating toward GTA VI.
