Noted publisher of Grand Theft Auto series acquires respected PC game developer.

Despite a recently released financial report delivering bad news for the current financial quarter, New York-based publisher Take Two Interactive confirmed this morning that it would be acquiring noted PC developer Irrational Games. Irrational's most recent titles included the self-published squad-based strategy title Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, and SWAT 4, a tactical shooter for Vivendi Universal. Both titles received tremendous critical acclaim and were two of GameSpy's Top Ten PC games of the year.

Stretching back, Irrational continues to be noted for publishing System Shock 2, which remains a high-water mark in the action/RPG field and is widely considered to be one of the best games published for the PC platform. Irrational's future titles will be published under Take Two's "2K Games" brand, starting with the upcoming BioShock in 2007 for the PC and unnamed consoles. BioShock has been touted by Irrational as a "spiritual sucessor" to System Shock 2," a trademarked franchise held by EA.

Take Two Interactive is the home of the notable Grand Theft Auto series, a powerhouse on console systems with the most recent iteration, San Andreas, and Liberty City Stories debuting to strong sales. Despite this, the company has been plagued by bad news in the last year, including the much-ballyhooed "Hot Coffee" controversy, and disappointing sales on non-GTA games. The acquisition of Irrational also follows a recent pattern of companies such as Namco that traditionally make their mark in the console world trying to branch out into the PC world.

NewsSource: http://xbox.gamespy.com"