INTERVIEW: CHRISTOPH HARTMANN, 2K GAMES Talking 2K
Take-Two’s other publishing label is trying its hand at almost everything, from boxed blockbusters to MMOs for the Asian market. 2K president Christoph Hartmann discusses the company’s initiatives with Christopher Dring
MOTION SUPPORT
2K MAY BE known for BioShockand Duke Nukembut the publisher is not just about the triple-A blockbusters. At E3 last month, the firm announced a string of projects for Kinect (Let’s Cheer, Nickelodeon Dance) and Move (NBA 2K11). Does 2K see these devices as ways to extend the console lifecycle?
“Not at all,” says 2K president Christoph Hartmann. “I don’t think they are avoiding doing another machine but testing the water. Rather
BRINGING BACK XCOM
LAST YEAR 2K announced cult turn-based strategy series Xcom was to return – but this time as a first-person shooter. Fans recoiled at the apparent bastardisation of their beloved series, but Hartmann says there’s good reason for the change of direction.
He explains: “The ‘90s generation of gamers all love Xcomand we own the IP, so we thought OK, what do we do with it? Every studio we had wanted to do it and each one had its own spin on it. But the problem was that turn-based strategy games were no longer the hottest thing on
WHY BIOSHOCK 2 UNDERPERFORMED
NEXT YEAR’S BioShock: Infiniteis one of 2K’s most anticipated video games. However, 2010’s BioShock 2 failed to do the numbers the label was expecting. Hartmann explains why: “It was the publishing window. It was the spring of death. We shipped two weeks after Mass Effect 2. Every two weeks there was a major release so you had two
16 July 8th 2011
weeks to sell. And if you look at the statistics of all of those titles, sales fell off a cliff for all of them after two weeks.
“The window was really bad and it was a tough one. We were all shooting for autumn and all of us missed. So I think it was the window more than anything else because the critical ratings were good.”
75
The number of E3 awards BioShock: Infinite won
www.mcvuk.com
planet Earth. But this is not just a commercial thing – strategy games are just not contemporary. “I use the example of music artists. Look at someone old school like Ray Charles, if he would make music today it would still be Ray Charles but he would probably do it more in the style of Kanye West. Bringing Ray Charles back is all fine and good, but it just needs to move on, although the core essence will still be the same.
“That’s what we are trying to do.
To renew Xcombut in line with what this generation of gamers want. The
2001
The last time an Xcom game was released
team behind it is asking
themselves every day: ‘Is it true to the values of the franchise?’ It’s not a case of cashing in on the name. We just need to renew it because times are changing.”
than coming out and saying: ‘this is our console now,’ I think they are playing around and seeing what they can do. These guys know how to manufacture the chips or push the memory, the kind of thing you usually get with each new console generation. But now everyone is looking for
innovation and at online components, so they are experimenting. “And it’s not been a case of just jumping on the Wii wagon – it’s been a case of learning about what Wii did and trying to take it somewhere. “Look, when Microsoft made the first Xbox, I assume there were always plans for Xbox 360. It was just the first Xbox was the machine to get it there. Microsoft was new to the party, so they used Xbox 1 to test
the water. It’s the same principle.” “
It is a case of learning what Wii did and trying to really take it somewhere.
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