The company behind heavy-hitting game titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, Take-Two, recently announced the biggest acquisition in gaming history with its purchase of Zynga. Along with this news, the company’s CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that Take-Two plans to bring their biggest games to mobile and, oddly, included Midnight Club in the list. Even though the racing franchise hasn’t seen a new release since 2008.
In a recent investor call, Zelnick listed several game franchises Take-Two plans to bring mobile now that they have acquired Zynga. Zelnick said, “Our labels are home to some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club, NBA 2K, BioShock, Borderlands, Sid Meier’s Civilization, Mafia, and Kerbal Space Program.”
While Midnight Club has been a successful franchise with a total of four games in its main series, there hasn’t been a new installment since October 2008. This makes the game seem like an odd inclusion in a list of games where all the rest have either had new releases in recent years or have a new one currently in development. The Rockstar racing series has been essentially dormant since Midnight Club: Los Angeles, 14 years ago.
Perhaps Zelnick included Midnight Club in the list because Take-Two has an unannounced Midnight Club game in the works. The CEO’s presentation to investors also included the series in a list of console and PC games that the company sees mobile potential in. Additionally, Midnight Club was shown in a list of game franchises that have passed 5 million units sold for Take-Two, perhaps giving meaning to what the company sees as “iconic brands.”
It’s important to note that Zelnick said it was “early days” for Take-Two and Zynga, signifying there are most likely no concrete plans just yet. What AAA games would you like to see Take-Two bring to mobile?
