Private Division

Private Division
Subsidiary
Industry Video game industry
Founded December 14, 2017 (2017-12-14)
Founders
  • Michael Worosz
  • Allen Murray
Headquarters New York City, New York, U.S.
Number of locations
 4 offices (2018)
Key people
  • Michael Worosz (head of label)
  • Allen Murray (EP of production)
Products Kerbal Space Program
Parent Take-Two Interactive
Website privatedivision.com

Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The brainchild of Take-Two Interactive's Michael Worosz, the label was founded by Worosz and Allen Murray, and officially announced on December 14, 2017. Private Division is Take-Two Interactive's third publishing label, following Rockstar Games and 2K.[1] Private Division funds and publishes indie games developed by small to mid-sized studios. This includes taking over Kerbal Space Program, which was developed by Squad and previously acquired by Take-Two Interactive, as well as publishing future titles from Obsidian Entertainment, The Outsiders, Panache Digital Games, and V1 Interactive.[2]

History

Take-Two's prior publishing model has been focused on its two internally-owned labels, Rockstar Games which is used for its action-adventure games like Grand Theft Auto, and its 2K label that includes 2K Games and 2K Sports for other games. All such games are developed principally through internal development studios or from large third-party triple-A studios (such as Firaxis Games with Civilization IV or Gearbox Software for the Borderlands series).

Take-Two formed Private Division as a new publishing label to help smaller and independent studios. The label looks to provide funding and publishing for "triple-I" games such as Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, those that fell into the middle ground between triple-A games by large studios, and indie games created by relatively new and small indie studios. The formation of Private Division was led by Take-Two's head of corporate development and independent publishing Michael Worosz. Worosz, in evaluating potential games to publish under Take-Two's name, found a number of mid-sized studios founded by developers that had prior triple-A development experience but wanted to create less ambitious games. Worosz learned that these studios struggled with funding, as they did not fit into the types of studios backed by indie game publishers like Devolver Digital, and their projects were too large to be backed through self-funding or crowdfunding. About two and a half years prior to the label's formation Worosz pitched the idea of Private Division to Take-Two's CEO Strauss Zelnick, who greenlit the creation of the label.[3] The label aids in the development process and works with the developer to create project timelines and milestones, and will help the publish and distribute the games when completed, but does not seek to own the intellectual property of the developers.[3]

With the label's formation on December 14, 2017, Take-Two announced four games already in the works to be published under the label: an unannounced role-playing video game from Obsidian Entertainment, Project Wight (working title) from The Outsiders, an unannounced first-person shooter from V1 Interactive, and Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey from Panache Digital. Additionally, Kerbal Space Program, acquired earlier by Take-Two, will be re-published under the Private Division label.[4][3]

In addition to offices within Take-Two's headquarters in New York City, Private Division also has offices in Seattle, Washington, Las Vegas, Nevada and Munich, Germany.[5]

Games published

Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s)
2018 Kerbal Space Program: Enhanced Edition PlayStation 4, Xbox One BlitWorks, Squad
Kerbal Space Program: Making History Expansion Microsoft Windows Squad
TBA Untitled Obsidian Entertainment game TBA Obsidian Entertainment
Untitled V1 Interactive game V1 Interactive
Project Wight (working title) The Outsiders
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey Panache Digital Games

References

  1. ↑ "Take-Two launches high-end indie label Private Division". PCGamer. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  2. ↑ http://www.mcvuk.com/articles/publishing/private-division-is-a-very-smart-move-for-take-two
  3. 1 2 3 Bertz, Matt (December 14, 2017). "The Inside Story Of Take-Two's New Publishing Label, Private Division". Game Informer. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  4. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew (December 14, 2017). "With Private Division, Take-Two wants to empower a new breed of indie developer". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  5. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (December 14, 2017). "GTA Company Will Publish New Games From Assassin's Creed, Halo, Fallout Developers". GameSpot. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
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