It was no surprise that Take-Two would like to use Zynga’s expertise to bring its main video games franchises to mobile. However, the company saw its stock fall soon after discussing the deal with its investors.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick commented on its plans to acquire Zynga for $12.7 billion in an investor call. The company wants the mobile gaming giant to bring Take-Two’s games to iOS and Android, as well as “optimize the creation of new titles based on Take-Two’s core intellectual property.” No specific properties were named during the call, though.
“We believe we have the best collection of console and PC intellectual property in the interactive entertainment business and it’s basically nearly entirely un-exploited from mobile and free-to-play around the world,” Zelnick said (via VGC).
He added that Zynga has “best-in-class studios” and “best-in-class free-to-play mobile publishing operations.”
GTA, Red Dead Redemption, BioShock, Mafia, Borderlands, Civilization, NBA 2K, Midnight Club, and Kerbal Space Program were among IPs highlighted in the announcement.
While Zynga’s shares have risen by 45% following the deal announcement, Take-Two investors were more skeptical about the plans. According to F-Squared founder Mike Futter, the GTA publisher’s stock fell by 14.5%.
“This says to me that T2 investors haven’t put the pieces together re how T2 IP can benefit from Zynga expertise,” he wrote. Futter also added that investors could have reacted to the deal better if Take-Two had simply said that it plans to make “GTA Online for mobile users.”