New publisher GreenScreen announces acquisitions

In February 2007, Take-Two founder and CEO Ryan Brant pleaded guilty in the publisher's ongoing stock options-backdating scandal, agreeing to pay up some $7.3 million in the process but trading five years' probation for jail time. As a consequence of that outcome, Brant has been effectively barred from running a publicly traded company, but that hasn't stopped the one-time exec from flexing his entrepreneurial muscle.

GreenScreen Interactive announced its presence today, saying GT Interactive founder Ron Chaimowitz will act as the company's chief executive officer. While Brant's role in the company was not disclosed, Chaimowitz did discuss having the former Take-Two chief on the payroll with Newsweek.

"Did I have concerns? Yes." Chaimowitz told Newsweek. "Did I think it was a major obstacle? No. I think that what Ryan brings is a tremendous creative and strategic vision for product. The areas that Ryan will focus on will be in those areas. He will not--and he's not allowed to be--on the board. He's not an officer of the company. We'll deal with any particular issues that come up from an SEC perspective as we go forward, but we're fairly confident that they will be non-issues given the role that he'll play in the company."

Along with the announcement, GreenScreen said it had acquired casual game publishers Destination Software and Zoo Digital Publishing. The publishers will be merged under GreenScreen's casual label Zoo Games and continue to focus on the "emerging mass-market sector," creating new and licensed family-friendly games. In Newsweek's interview with Chaimowitz, the exec hinted that the publisher may expand its reach beyond the casual market in the future. Terms of the deals were not disclosed, and no titles were revealed as part of the announcement.