Rockstar Parent Company Wants To Bring Grand Theft Auto To Mobile Now, Because Of Course

Zynga, the developer of your mum's favourite games such as FarmVille, Words with Friends and Draw Something, has been snapped up by Take-Two Interactive and its intention is to use Zynga's expertise to take Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption onto your mobile phone.

Alright, I'll admit that the pithy potshot about FarmVille and Words with Friends was totally out of order. My apologies. 183 million people play Zynga games every month and, in 2020, the mobile gaming market was estimated to be worth approximately $25.2 billion in North America alone. Globally, this sector accounts for nearly 60% of total gaming revenue. And, if I haven't hammered the point home enough, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion. On the other hand, Take-Two Interactive spent $12.7 billion on Zynga. It's almost like mobile games are... extremely popular.

Here's our video all about Grand Theft Auto VI, relaying the history of the games as well as diving deep into every leak and rumour about the anticipated entry!

Speaking in an investor call subsequent to the announcement of the acquisition, CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the companies possess the ultimate combination of powerful intellectual properties and the technical know-how and niche to secure new audiences for Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and more. “Perhaps most importantly we have the ability together, from both a development and a publishing point of view, to optimise the creation of new titles based on Take-Two’s core intellectual property,” said Zelnick (thank you to VGC for the transcript).

“We believe we have the best collection of console and PC intellectual property in the interactive entertainment business and it’s basically nearly entirely un-exploited from mobile and free-to-play around the world. Zynga’s best-in-class studios can help us develop that property," continued the CEO. "Their best-in-class free-to-play mobile publishing operations can bring that to consumers, delight those consumers and create recurrent consumer spending along the way."

While it is "early days," Take-Two Interactive is confident that this is $12.7 billion well spent to take NBA 2K, BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization, to name but a few more, to mobile platforms. The acquisition itself isn't complete, mind, as the company anticipates that the "i"s and the "t"s will be dotted and crossed in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

Thanks to xCloud, you are actually able to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition on your phone today. Provided that it's an Android and that you're also subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It's possible that the remainder of the Definitive Edition will be playable on mobiles though as matching controls were found in the PC versions of the maligned games.

Topics: Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Mobile Games