Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Topics: GTA, Rockstar Games, Take-Two
When pitching to Take-Two Interactive, it seems that you have to be more Michael than Trevor and have the gift of the gab that doesn't just get you through the door, but convinces the biggest publishers in the world to get excited.
With GTA 6 on the horizon, Take-Two is as giddy as any other studio, as gaming standards are expected to be obliterated.
So, how on earth do you pitch a game, knowing that it will launch in the shadow of the looming giant that is GTA 6?
Well, it seems like this feat may have just denied us an iconic sequel to a franchise like Bully, as Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick revealed that he scrapped a pitch for a follow-up game already in his collection, purely off 'negative vibes'.
With Take-Two set to shift its post-GTA 6 focus to developing its other pre-existing franchises in 2027, rather than advocate new series, Zelnick took to the stage at iicon to reveal that this isn't as easy as they first thought.
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In fact, there have been moments in the past where studios have come up with sequels to Take-Two games, but getting them through the boardroom is no easy feat.
"We had a greenlight meeting years ago, and it was about a sequel to one of our franchises," Zelnick said.
"There was something in the room, some vibe in the room I wasn't comfortable with.
"So I said to the producer, 'Listen, let's pause. How excited are you about working on this title?' And he said, 'Well, I know we're making this sequel, and I feel good about making the sequel.' I said, 'You're not answering the question. And how excited are you?' And he said, 'Well, candidly, I'm not all that excited about working on it.' I said, 'Well, let's end the meeting right here. We're just not doing that.'"
What is for certain is that this was not L.A. Noire, as the sequel to Rockstar's Mafia-like detective game is set to be the studio's next game following the release of GTA VI, capitalising on the positive reception of competitor title 007 First Light.
Instead, people have speculated that Zelnick's comments might be directed to Bully 2.
The beloved 2006 game is a sore spot within Rockstar's gaming community, with people pining after a sequel for 20 years.
Yet, it was revealed last year that there were originally talks about a Bully sequel that was shelved for more GTA action - there's a limit to the immorality, I suppose.
It would be a cruel, sad world if that proposed sequel was canned for not exciting its own developers, as it's now likely that we'll never get the opportunity to get into fisticuffs on the schoolyard again.
Equally, this could actually be anything from a classic Bully revival to a follow-up of Zynga's mobile game CityVille. There's a whole IP minefield to explore for the real answer.
Still, we can't be too upset knowing that Take-Two is about to publish the game of the century. Hopefully.