Take-Two CEO says gaming is moving toward PCs, open systems
Take-Two Interactive Although game consoles are not going away, the industry will shift towards PCs in the next decade, CEO Strauss Zelnick said Monday.
“I think it’s moving toward PC and business is moving toward open rather than closed,” Zelnick told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “But if you define the console as property and not as a system, then the concept of a very rich game that you play for hours on the big screen never goes away.”
Zelnick said the current split between console and mobile is nearly even in the market, but mobile is growing faster than consoles.
Even though game giants like it Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Competitors have continued to focus on traditional consoles to great success. Microsoft’s Xbox has hinted that more PC-based games will be playable on new generation hardware.
“It’s funny how people think of console and PC as two different things,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a recent interview. TBPN. “We developed the console because we wanted to build a better computer that could then perform better for gaming. I want to reconsider some of that conventional wisdom.”
Gaming company Valve garnered significant buzz last week after announcing its new Steam Machine, a console-PC hybrid that can run PC games on a TV or as a regular gaming PC.
“Expanding access across PC, console and handheld devices reflects a future built on choice, the core values that have driven Xbox’s vision from the beginning,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. wrote In an X post congratulating Valve.
Although Take-Two’s most high-profile games, such as “Grand Auto Theft” and the “Borderlands” series, are largely played on console and PC, the company has invested heavily in the mobile segment after the mobile gaming industry boomed during the pandemic.
In 2022, the company purchased mobile developer Zynga for $12.7 billion, making the largest game acquisition at that time.
That major acquisition has since paid off, with Take-Two’s mobile division leading the company’s revenue in the second quarter despite the release of major titles like “Borderlands 4,” “NBA 2K26” and “Mafia: The Old Country.”
Mobile games from developers like Zynga, Rollic and Nordeus accounted for 46% of Take-Two’s net revenue for the quarter, while console sold slightly less at 41% and PC and other platforms contributed 13%.
“Mobile is of course taken with you, it’s repeatable and it’s enjoyable,” Zelnick said Monday. he said. “And I think it will probably continue to grow faster because it appeals to the widest possible audience.”
The CEO said during the earnings call that the company expects the mobile unit to grow by about 10% next quarter.
Although mobile gaming has slowed after seeing unprecedented highs during Covid, the market is seeing some reacceleration this year.
According to Newzoo’s research, global mobile gaming revenue is expected to generate $188.8 billion this year, up 3.4% from last year. Console and PC are estimated to make a combined $45.9 billion, or 45% of the total gaming market.
