Take Two Establishes Label Dedicated to Veteran Independent Teams

Take Two, the publishing giant behind Grand Theft Auto and the NBA 2K games, has taken a break from counting the billions made on Shark Cards and virtual jerseys in order to branch out a bit. They’ve announced a new publishing label called Private Division, which will deal with independent teams helmed by veteran developers. They’ve also revealed their current lineup, which is quite impressive.

According to the press release, Private Division has taken over the publishing duties for Kerbal Space Program, which Take Two acquired earlier this year. Aside from that, they’ve scooped up four games from various rock star developers. For starters, there’s the next game from Obsidian Entertainment, a currently unannounced, getting-the-band-back-together project helmed by Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, two thirds of the creative force behind Arcanum.

Then there’s Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, a game about survival and evolution being made by Panache Digital Games. The name might not ring a bell, but it’s a studio run by Patrice Désilets, the original creator of Assassin’s Creed. There’s also an RPG under the code name Project Wight, which is the work of The Outsiders, a team under the guidance of Battlefield veterans David Goldfarb and Ben Cousins. Finally, there’s a first person shooter from Halo: Reach creative director Marcus Lehto, and his studio, V1 Interactive.

Big news, that there. Curiously enough, there’s no mention of loot boxes and post-release monetization yet. Here’s some corporate-speak, courtesy of Michael Worosz, head of independent publishing at Take Two:

We have spent more than two years laying the groundwork for Private Division, building an experienced publishing team and signing projects with some the most respected and talented creative leaders in our industry. We see a growing number of independent studios in our industry creating high quality games based on new IP, and our focus is supporting these types of developers and projects, and ultimately bringing incredible experiences to gamers around the world.