TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE
This year must have hurt if you worked for Take-Two. The Hot Coffee scandal may have cooled, but 2007 saw GTA IV delayed and Manhunt 2 neutered with self-censorship for publication in America, but still banned in Europe.
With Rockstar on board, however, Take-Two will never be far from controversy. It's fortunate then that its most notorious studio is also a heavyweight talent, producing some of the industry's most compelling games. You takes the rough with the smooth, we guess.
PUBLISHER SCORE: 83%
THE STUDIOS
RockstarGames | Acquired/Founded 1999
If you've heard of no other studio on this list, you'll have heard of Rockstar. Grand Theft Auto must be one of the biggest videogame series of all time - and certainly one of the most ambitious. But with branching studios in Leeds, Edinburgh (R* North), San Diego, Vancouver and elsewhere, Rockstar isn't limited to one series, with Midnight Club, Bully, Manhunt and The Warriors also coming from this huge, and hugely exciting collection of developers.
Studio score: 75%
FiraxisGames | Acquired 2005
It's called Firaxis, but it's Sid Meier's name that you're more likely to know. The creators of world-sim Civilisation joined Take-Two fairly recently, with Civ IV and Sid Meier's Railroads! the first games produced solely for Firaxis' new paymasters. Civilisation Revolution is on the cards for 2008.
Studio score: 83%
Irrational Games | Acquired 2006
Take-Two's suits would rather we called it 2K Boston/Australia, but we'll stick with the infinitely more appealing Irrational, thanks - it calls up fond memories of System Shock's space-horror, the spandex spangle of Freedom Force and, of course, the atmosphere of BioShock's undersea world.
Studio score: 90%
