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Loansharks Coming After Mafia II?
If Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pacther is to be believed, Vito Scaletta and Mafia II could be swimming with the fishes thanks to sagging sales and mixed reviews.
"Mafia II's average Metacritic score of 74 is well below expectations, and consumer interest appears to be waning, as the game’s position has dropped in many best-seller lists in its first week," Pachter told Gamasutra. "With six years in development, we believe the game is unlikely to achieve profitability."
Like many of its other landmark franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, BioShock, and Red Dead Redemption, the management team at 2K Games gave developer 2K Czech ample time to produce the Mafia sequel. Despite the many successes the company has had in the past by giving the creative teams a loose rope, when games with long development times fail it puts 2K's profitability at a greater risk. Pachter believes this business model is becoming a liability.
"With longer development cycles, Take-Two has a profitability threshold higher than its peers," he said. "We believe that the company must focus on streamlining its development process and providing better visibility on future game releases."
What say you, greater gaming public? Should 2K let their creative teams do their thing, or is it time to start cracking the whip more often?
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