Fortnite has taken the gaming world by storm, and now Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto parent company Take-Two Interactive has responded yet again to the game`s success. During an earnings call today, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doubled down on what he said before: you don`t become an industry leader by following what other teams have done before you.Speaking to analysts, Zelnick said he doesn`t expect his studios--2K Games and Rockstar Games--to follow in the footsteps of Fortnite and PUBG.`I think if one changed one`s business to follow other people`s big hits, you`d be constantly playing catch up,` he said. `And to say you wouldn`t be in second place is an understatement. You might remain in last place. So it`s our job to innovate, and more often than not that has driven our success.`Previously, Zelnick spoke about how Take-Two is certainly aware of Fortnite`s success, he would rather have his studios push forward with new ideas instead of being `derivative` of something that came before. Rockstar is dipping its toes in the battle royale space with GTA Online, which added a battle royale mode called Motor Wars in 2017. And just this week, Rockstar added another battle royale-inspired mode called Trap Door.Zelnick added that what Fortnite`s success shows is that some of the most successful games are the ones people don`t see coming. As an example, Zelnick pointed out that some industry-watchers said Red Dead Redemption wouldn`t succeed because Westerns had fallen out of favour. But of course, that game was a smash hit, and the sequel due this year is expected to be a massive success as well.`Maybe the biggest learning [from Fortnite] is just the reinforcement of the fact that big hits by their very nature are unexpected. What drives a big hit is innovation not derivation,` he said. `That`s what we`re proud of around here. When we put out Red Dead Redemption, the conventional wisdom was that western titles do not work in the video game business--and Re ...
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