Post by Segaman on Jan 24, 2005 23:03:46 GMT -5
After last week's reports, mainly from the Wall Street Journal, that Take-Two had signed an exclusive deal with the Major League Baseball Player Associations, it appears that the rumors are true.
Today the MLB Players Association issued a statement regarding the deal. "The Major League Baseball Players Association ('MLBPA') today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to grant sweeping rights to Take-Two Interactive, Inc., to develop and publish a broad portfolio of products that are expected to drive the baseball video game business to unprecedented heights," read the announcement.
But, as for rumors about the purported exclusivity of the deal, that still remains to be seen. Part of the announcement states that Take-Two's new deal will become effective in 2006. "Take-Two will have exclusive rights among third-party publishers to develop and market simulation, arcade and manager-style baseball video games on the current and next-generation PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, personal computer and hand-held video game systems," continued the announcement. The words to keep track of in the statement are the words "third-party publishers."
The details of this deal seem to point out the fact that first party developers will still have the rights to publish and develop baseball titles, including Sony's 989 brand of sports games. Obviously, this also seems to announce that EA's MVP Baseball series will not be making an appearance in 2006, but it seems that EA is still weighing their long term plan options.
In an interview with Reuters, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter had the following to say about the new deal. "Take-Two appears to us to be confident in its ability to compete in the sports video game arena, and appears intent upon challenging Electronic Arts' leadership in the category. On balance, we view this news as mildly positive for Take-Two, as it appears that the company will continue to publish baseball video games using the MLB players and will turn a modest profit should it capture 2 million units of sales in 2006."
Currently, there's been no official announcement from Take-Two regarding the deal.
Today the MLB Players Association issued a statement regarding the deal. "The Major League Baseball Players Association ('MLBPA') today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to grant sweeping rights to Take-Two Interactive, Inc., to develop and publish a broad portfolio of products that are expected to drive the baseball video game business to unprecedented heights," read the announcement.
But, as for rumors about the purported exclusivity of the deal, that still remains to be seen. Part of the announcement states that Take-Two's new deal will become effective in 2006. "Take-Two will have exclusive rights among third-party publishers to develop and market simulation, arcade and manager-style baseball video games on the current and next-generation PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, personal computer and hand-held video game systems," continued the announcement. The words to keep track of in the statement are the words "third-party publishers."
The details of this deal seem to point out the fact that first party developers will still have the rights to publish and develop baseball titles, including Sony's 989 brand of sports games. Obviously, this also seems to announce that EA's MVP Baseball series will not be making an appearance in 2006, but it seems that EA is still weighing their long term plan options.
In an interview with Reuters, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter had the following to say about the new deal. "Take-Two appears to us to be confident in its ability to compete in the sports video game arena, and appears intent upon challenging Electronic Arts' leadership in the category. On balance, we view this news as mildly positive for Take-Two, as it appears that the company will continue to publish baseball video games using the MLB players and will turn a modest profit should it capture 2 million units of sales in 2006."
Currently, there's been no official announcement from Take-Two regarding the deal.
