Apprentice
02-01-2005, 12:25 AM
Take-Two bulks up on baseball; adds MLBP, MLBAM to partner lineup
EA eats some of Take-Two's dust as deal points with MLBPA, MLBP, and MLB Advanced Media specifies "no third parties" allowed; news due Monday will also name Derek Jeter as spokesperson and cover athlete.
The executives at Take-Two Interactive have been eating their Wheaties.
After enduring an onslaught of news in the past month that has seen two major licenses, the NFL and ESPN, pulled from its grips, the publisher has a few sports highlights of its own to dazzle the game industry with.
Now, exactly a week after a near-exclusive deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association was publicized by the league itself--with no word coming from Take-Two on deal points or other specifics--executives at Take-Two are ready to break their silence.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. will announce on Monday that the company has entered into a long-term licensing agreement with Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM).
The deal, which goes into effect spring 2006, gives the GTA publisher exclusive rights to publish and distribute officially licensed games for consoles, PC, and handheld platforms. Take-Two says it plans to offer "multiple titles based on traditional baseball simulation, arcade and manager-style games."
Executives declined to specify the length of the agreements, but industry sources said depending on the specific partner, terms were for either seven or eight years. Likewise, no mention of what Take-Two paid for the rights was announced (although media reports last week put the value of the MLBPA deal alone at a low of $80 million and a high of $150 million).
While many key elements of the deal have already been disclosed by the MLBPA, a couple of updates lend additional drama to an already complicated and ferociously competitive sports-licensing landscape.
The sweeping deal will give Take-Two "exclusives, include rights to the marks of all 30 Major League Baseball Clubs, MLB players, Major League ballparks and Minor League Baseball Clubs, as well as MLB.com online content, for use in Take-Two's baseball games," according to the groups.
In addition, Take-Two and MLB have put all other third-party publishers on notice that no wiggle room exists for their entry into the MLB-licensed space. The deal allows only the major console manufacturers, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, the "right to enter into development agreements for MLB games specific to their particular platforms."
Earlier, many industry observers saw an opportunity for publishers, such as Electronic Arts, to collaborate with the manufacturers, possibly to cobrand MLB-licensed games. The agreement effectively closes that opening.
"All other third-party publishers and developers are precluded from publishing officially licensed MLB simulation, arcade, and manager-style games, either directly or in affiliation with a hardware manufacturer, during the length of the exclusives," the groups said.
In a statement, Take-Two execs call that move "consistent with Take-Two's desire for continued consumer choice."
Hoping to bring added sizzle to the baseball space, Take-Two says it will introduce more games and will distribute them with greater frequency than the industry is used to. While it seems likely a flight of games timed with the start of baseball season in the spring is a given, Take-Two says it will focus additional strategic energy on the "key, the holiday-selling season." The company has plans to release licensed baseball games "year-round."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/30/news_6117499.html
EA eats some of Take-Two's dust as deal points with MLBPA, MLBP, and MLB Advanced Media specifies "no third parties" allowed; news due Monday will also name Derek Jeter as spokesperson and cover athlete.
The executives at Take-Two Interactive have been eating their Wheaties.
After enduring an onslaught of news in the past month that has seen two major licenses, the NFL and ESPN, pulled from its grips, the publisher has a few sports highlights of its own to dazzle the game industry with.
Now, exactly a week after a near-exclusive deal with the Major League Baseball Players Association was publicized by the league itself--with no word coming from Take-Two on deal points or other specifics--executives at Take-Two are ready to break their silence.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. will announce on Monday that the company has entered into a long-term licensing agreement with Major League Baseball Properties (MLBP), the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), and Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM).
The deal, which goes into effect spring 2006, gives the GTA publisher exclusive rights to publish and distribute officially licensed games for consoles, PC, and handheld platforms. Take-Two says it plans to offer "multiple titles based on traditional baseball simulation, arcade and manager-style games."
Executives declined to specify the length of the agreements, but industry sources said depending on the specific partner, terms were for either seven or eight years. Likewise, no mention of what Take-Two paid for the rights was announced (although media reports last week put the value of the MLBPA deal alone at a low of $80 million and a high of $150 million).
While many key elements of the deal have already been disclosed by the MLBPA, a couple of updates lend additional drama to an already complicated and ferociously competitive sports-licensing landscape.
The sweeping deal will give Take-Two "exclusives, include rights to the marks of all 30 Major League Baseball Clubs, MLB players, Major League ballparks and Minor League Baseball Clubs, as well as MLB.com online content, for use in Take-Two's baseball games," according to the groups.
In addition, Take-Two and MLB have put all other third-party publishers on notice that no wiggle room exists for their entry into the MLB-licensed space. The deal allows only the major console manufacturers, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, the "right to enter into development agreements for MLB games specific to their particular platforms."
Earlier, many industry observers saw an opportunity for publishers, such as Electronic Arts, to collaborate with the manufacturers, possibly to cobrand MLB-licensed games. The agreement effectively closes that opening.
"All other third-party publishers and developers are precluded from publishing officially licensed MLB simulation, arcade, and manager-style games, either directly or in affiliation with a hardware manufacturer, during the length of the exclusives," the groups said.
In a statement, Take-Two execs call that move "consistent with Take-Two's desire for continued consumer choice."
Hoping to bring added sizzle to the baseball space, Take-Two says it will introduce more games and will distribute them with greater frequency than the industry is used to. While it seems likely a flight of games timed with the start of baseball season in the spring is a given, Take-Two says it will focus additional strategic energy on the "key, the holiday-selling season." The company has plans to release licensed baseball games "year-round."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/30/news_6117499.html