Zelnick says Take-Two isn't for sale, even after EA went private for $55 billion

So EA just got bought out for $55 billion by an investor group led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and naturally the next question everyone asks is who's next. Strauss Zelnick got asked about Take-Two directly and his answer was basically thanks but no thanks.

He was talking to David Rubenstein and made the case that Take-Two is already big enough to stand on its own. His line was that the company can do "very well as an independent company" and that they don't need to be part of a bigger org to stay competitive. He also pointed out Take-Two is already at scale with a strong balance sheet.

the scale argument is actually interesting

Zelnick's reasoning is that once you're clearing a billion a year in revenue, extra size stops helping you win. He said their guidance for this fiscal year is $8 billion to $8.2 billion, which is way past that threshold. Below a billion, sure, you might struggle to develop, market and ship games at scale, and you might not survive a flop. Above it, he doesn't see the upside.

"But once you're over a billion dollars in annual revenue, and we're way beyond that point. Our guidance is $8 billion to $8.2 billion this fiscal year, additional scale doesn't seem to help you succeed."

Fair point honestly. Take-Two's market cap is north of $42 billion and it's only expected to climb with GTA 6 landing on November 19. Buying them would cost an absurd amount of money.

this has happened before

Worth remembering EA tried to buy Take-Two back in early 2008. Take-Two said no, EA went public with the offer to try to force it through, and then EA walked away later that year after refusing to raise its bid. There was also that 2019 chatter about Sony wanting Take-Two, which turned out to be nothing but market noise, no formal offer.

Zelnick has also hinted that future GTA releases could come faster, which would only make the company more valuable. So yeah, don't hold your breath waiting for a takeover headline. The man clearly likes running his own shop, and with GTA 6 about to print money, he's got zero reason to hand over the keys.

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Source: GameSpot · Curated content.