Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says that, generally speaking, the controversy surrounding Evolve is a good thing.
The gaming controversy of the last few months has been around Evolve and its DLC practices. Turtle Rock Studios boss Phil Robb offered his own thoughts on the matter earlier, and now, parent company Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick has made his own statement.
“Controversy, generally speaking, is a good thing,” said Zelnick at Take-Two’s annual earnings call. “People can argue about the business model. I think we’re delivering a fantastic title that’s well versed with consumers who will pay for it. And all signs are extraordinarily positive.”
He went on the boast that Evolve has been the “only game in history” to win Game of Show honors at both E3 and Gamescom in the same year. “Never like to claim success before it’s occurred. This looks to be a good news event. I’m going to leave it at that. Hopefully, in our next call, we’ll have great news to report.”
The controversy in question essentially sprung up from one of Turtle Rock’s earliest statements on the game, that it was a title being built “from the ground up to accommodate DLC”. Many fans took issue with the developer pushing DLC so hard before the game had even been released, something that was further compounded by the game’s myriad of special edition and pre-order options.
What do you think of Zelnick’s statements? It looks like he is standing by that old journalism adage of “all press is good press”, but I’m not too sure myself. I know I personally have been put off purchasing the title at launch as a direct result of the controversy, and will wait for the inevitable “Game of the Year” edition that bundles up all its DLC.
