It's been a tough couple of months for Take-Two Interactive. Ever since EA revealed their plans of wanting to take over T2, it's been nothing but a test of patience for both companies. And what happened when the whole acquisition offer ended up in a stalemate? Both Take-Two and EA's stock shares plummeted.

So today, T2's busy with damage control. They just published a press release to reaffirm to everyone (most especially investors) that they're still a strong company and will remain an independent company.

The following quote comes from T2 Chairman Strauss Zelnick after reviewing their company's strategic alternatives:

Take-Two’s Board of Directors and management have a clear mandate from stockholders to maximize value. We are strongly positioned creatively, financially and competitively to benefit from the opportunities we see in the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry. Our management and outstanding and talented employees have maintained an unwavering focus on our products and our business through this lengthy strategic review process and we are confident in our prospects. We remain focused on maximizing value for stockholders and are executing on our business strategies in a determined manner

Meanwhile, CEO Ben Feder had this to say as well:

Take-Two’s recent performance demonstrates our potential to create value for the long term. We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles, which includes the powerful Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as 15 other wholly owned brands with sales of more than one million units each. Our strong cash position - with no debt and an undrawn $140 million credit facility - gives us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.

Boring corporate stuff, huh? Well, in a nutshell, that'd be: "we haven't let you down before, we won't let you down in the future; please buy stocks from us." Which I believe is pretty reasonable.

Their lineup of games for next year looks strong enough for an independent studio (BioShock 2, Borderlands, and the PC version of GTA4 to name a few). That and, just yesterday, we saw T2 ranked pretty high on Game Developer mag's Top 20 list of publishers.

So, for a company trying to keep itself independent, they've got enough mad skillz to stay at pace with the other major players like Sony, Nintendo, MS, and yes, even EA.

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