January 25^th, 2005 (10:37am) - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. and SEGA Corporation and its affiliates announced today that Take-Two has purchased all of the outstanding capital stock of SEGA’s California-based sports game development studio Visual Concepts Entertainment and its wholly-owned studio, Kush Games. Visual Concepts is the marketer and developer of the critically acclaimed 2K series of sports video games.

The purchase price was approximately $24 million in cash and includes the rights to all intellectual property associated with the sports titles, as well as rights to the 2K brand. The agreement also provides that Take-Two and SEGA will work together to bring sports titles developed by Visual Concepts to SEGA’s arcade business. Additionally, Take-Two is negotiating an agreement with SEGA whereby SEGA will publish and distribute the 2K series of sports titles and certain other Take-Two games in Japan and other Asian territories.

Commenting on the acquisition, Paul Eibeler, Take-Two President, said, "With the acquisition of Visual Concepts and Kush Games and their leading sports game development capabilities, we will continue to aggressively pursue our strategy to gain market share with our 2K Sports titles. These studios and their unrivaled talent represent a significant addition to Take-Two’s internal development capabilities, which are now approaching 1,000 people worldwide."

"Take-Two has proven in a very short time that it has the resources to excel in the sports video game business, and the acquisition of Visual Concepts further enhances Take-Two’s position. We look forward to our ongoing partnership with Take-Two as we publish the 2K Sports series and other titles in the Asian market, and bring Visual Concepts’ sports titles to our arcade machines," said Hisao Oguchi, President and COO of SEGA Corporation.

"Take-Two has been an incredible partner with whom we’ve experienced great success," said Greg Thomas, President of Visual Concepts. "Take-Two has the formidable marketing and distribution resources necessary to compete and win in this business, as well as an increasingly rare passion for creating truly new and innovative games for consumers. For us, giving consumers the best games possible has always been the very top priority, and we look forwar