Take Two interested in bringing more console games to tablets

Game publisher Take Two has shown interest in bringing its full-fledged console and PC games to mobile devices. According to Polygon, Take Two boss Karl Slatoff said during a recent investor call that tablets will soon be able to run console-quality games, and the company could experiment with console-level pricing for bringing its games to these devices.

“The tablets still aren’t powerful enough to run our console titles in their full experiences in the way [developers] want. But we think that’s just a moment in time,” said Slatoff. “I have every reason to believe that a tablet will be a great game platform, and we’ll be right there. I do think we’re a couple of years away.”

The iOS port of XCOM has been a huge success for Take Two

The biggest problem here for bringing games from consoles to tablets is the lack of a standardised controller layout. This is because current tablets are strictly touch-based, and using virtual D-pads for games on touch devices is often seen as a bad design decision.

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When asked if the company can charge full price for a tablet port of a console game, Slatoff said, “There really is no reason why — if you deliver a great experience on tablet — we should be price-limited.” The pricing isn’t written in stone, however. Slatoff has stated that the company would listen to customers about pricing of its games, so if they “push back on the individual bite size price of a price because it’s on a tablet, [console-level pricing] wouldn’t make very much sense.”

The company had recently launched XCOM: Enemy Unknown on iOS for Rs 1,100, and the sales and reviews for the port have been quite impressive. This could further help prove Slatoff’s point about console-quality games on tablets.