Take-Two Interactive recently revealed its earnings report for 2021's first quarter, and eagle-eyed fans noted a handful of promising-sounding points secreted away in the presentation. Whether it's 2K Games releasing a new project later in the year or Tiny Tina's Wonderlands getting a release window, fans seemingly have plenty to look forward to. One little detail squirreled away on a slide may have slipped under the radar, though.
It would appear that the company has six remakes or remasters in the pipeline, or rather "new iterations of previous titles." Some of these are public knowledge already, namely versions of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Kerbal Space Program for next-gen consoles, and a standalone version of Grand Theft Auto Online.
But that still leaves three of these "newly-iterated" titles unaccounted for, and Take-Two Interactive is very much keeping its cards close to its chest. With no information about which of its subsidiaries might be working on these games, it's impossible to know for certain what's in store, but fans have been quick to speculate which franchises might be getting the remake/remaster treatment.
At the top of the list for many is a potential remaster of Red Dead Redemption 2, though others argue that a mere three years after its initial release is much too soon for that to be likely. Other contenders are the original Red Dead Redemption, a 20th-anniversary revisiting of the Max Payne series, or even the recently-rumored remakes of the earlier 3D Grand Theft Auto games.
One thing seems pretty clear, though. Whatever upcoming games Take-Two might have in store for its fans, they're unlikely to come be coming to Xbox Game Pass any time soon. CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed on the earnings call that he felt subscription services like Game Pass weren't a good fit for what he termed the company's "frontline titles" like Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Still, Zelnick stated that the company considered itself "open-minded" about the idea, and there are arguments to be made about how Take-Two ought to rethink its Xbox Game Pass skepticism. With six new remakes or remasters in the works, getting them on a subscription service could be the perfect opportunity to bring some newly-polished gems from days gone by to a new audience who might not have had the opportunity to play them the first time around. It's surely food for thought, and fans will no doubt remain hopeful that the publisher might do a U-turn on its opposition to subscription.
Source: Resetera/Take-Two Interactive