Take-Two Interactive is a company that's been largely defined by Rockstar Games, especially the monstrous Grand Theft Auto franchise. Other Rockstar releases have been critically acclaimed but until last year's Red Dead Redemption, none of Rockstar Games' releases have achieved the same blockbuster sales.
It's unclear whether L.A. Noire will achieve the same status, but based on comments from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on the company's financial call today, there's reason to believe it's doing well.
Zelnick was asked several times to compare the launch of L.A. Noire to Red Dead Redemption, especially after Take-Two announced the open-world Western game had sold 8.5 million copies so far.
"We certainly don't want to be subject to [comparing] all of our new releases of new franchises against the extraordiany success of Red Dead Redemption," said Zelnick. "Every title stands alone. We have every reason to believe L.A. Noire is another strong franchise for this company."
He would not, however, elaborate on sales specifics.
"No matter how you slice it," he said, "Ii's a very successful release. To be able to say that again is extraordinary. This management team is just immensely grateful to Rockstar for delivering another superb title and 2K [Games] for all the franchises they've been delivering as of late. One can never take that for granted. The hit ration of this group is extraordinary."
Following the successful release of a new property, Take-Two tends to toss the word "franchise" around pretty quickly. It happened to BioShock and Red Dead Redemption after both were released.
"We do see this [L.A. Noire] as a powerful new franchise for our company," concluded Zelnick.
More Red Dead Redemption-ness? I'd love that. More L.A. Noire-ish-ness? I'd also love that
waterboarding, ripping finger nails, etc.
EDIT:: MW: Noire. After capturing a P.O.I. you put the screws to them, figuratively and literally.
N.Y. Noire
Chicago Noire
I wouldn't want an L.A Noire 2, but New York Noire; Miami, Chicago ect. Even possibly London Noire? Personally I'd love this series to branch out like this and develop at least one sequel (though with that said, when does one game only have one sequel...)
I just know that I love the characters, the writing and the outstanding detail to everything that different cities with different characters would be awesome, and it'd give them the opportunity to better expand L.A Noire as an actual Detective game.
While I seriously enjoyed L.A Noire, for all its tech and gameplay and probably one of the top 10 games I have played this year it is certainly no comparison for red dead.
For me its like assassins creed. A series I love very very much and look forward to, but not GOTY material.
Flipping through the credits section of my manual: Team Bondi... Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar New England, Rockstar N.Y.C., Rockstar Lincoln. Errr, ok.
On a side-note, does anyone know how much did LA Noire sell at this point or is that yet to be known?
And sounds like Rockstar has helped foster yet another hit. They're seriously batting a thousand this gen.