As the parent company of 2K and Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive boasts a solid profile of titles that span multiple genres (e.g., Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, Civilization, NBA 2K), but one segment that it’s severely lacking in is racers. That could be changing soon.
According to an internal statement seen by VGC, Take-Two has made a proposal to acquire Codemasters – the UK-based developer/publisher that’s responsible for hit racing franchises such as DiRT, F1, and Project Cars.
While business documentation is still being reviewed, Codemasters is already enthusiastic about the potential buyout, noting that it would encourage shareholders to accept Take-Two’s offer.
“[Take-Two] believes that the combination of Take-Two and Codemasters would bring together two world-class interactive entertainment portfolios, with a highly complementary fit between 2K and Codemasters in the racing genre,” the publisher told VGC in a statement.
“Take-Two believes that it can bring benefits to Codemasters performance by leveraging Take-Two global distribution and 2K’s core operating expertise in publishing, including, live operations, analytics, product development, and brand and performance marketing.”
As noted above, the acquisition of Codemasters would be a definite boon for Take-Two, whose catalog largely comprises action, arcade, role-playing, shooter, sports, and strategy titles.
Just yesterday, Codemasters released DiRT 5 – the latest installment of the popular off-road racing series – for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. Console players can upgrade to the next-gen versions for free when they release next week.