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Take-Two sees through Illusion

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Jan 8, 2008 6:00 am PT

Publisher buys out Czech company currently working on gangster action adventure Mafia II.

Take-Two has decided to kick off the new year in the way many consumers have been--by splashing out. The company, which already owns Rockstar Games, Global Star Software, 2K Games, 2K Sports, Gotham Games, and others, has a new addition to its stable--Czech company Illusion Softworks.

Illusion Softworks is based in Brno in the Czech Republic and also has operations in the country's capital, Prague. Established in 1997 by Petr Vochozka and venture outfit Cash Reform, the developer has worked on games, including Mafia, the Hidden & Dangerous series, and Vietcong. The company is currently known to be working on Enemy in Sight and Mafia II.

Ben Feder, CEO of Take-Two, commented that the deal was part of the company's bid to continue to expand its ownership of "high-value" IP. In December, the company confirmed the existence of 2K Marin, a studio based in California and rumoured to be working on BioShock 2.

Illusion Softworks will be renamed 2K Czech as part of the deal. Financial terms of the acquisition were not revealed.

56 Comments

  • MAFIOSO_13

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 6:00 am PT

    I don't care about the company name i want mafia 2 to be released soon as possible

  • Hippercommunist

    Posted May 7, 2008 4:18 am PT

    2K Czech? Gosh, it sounds like sh*t!

  • OdinBear

    Posted Apr 16, 2008 4:22 am PT

    Got Mafia running on my laptop with vista-64 bit sys. If Mafia 2 is anything like the original it deserves to be a winner. Thank F*** ea has nothing to do with it. look how they ruined the Need for Speed series by dumbing down to console controls and options. I have Porsche Unleashed and it rocked in every way, changing tire pressures for different surfaces etc, etc, Mafia was such a fresh original game!!.. Just keep Mafia 2 the same (Original) Illusion Softworks / 2K Czech "Well Done" ( not a gta clone fan)

  • VercettiTommyy

    Posted Apr 14, 2008 3:47 am PT

    Mafia was the best game ever.Can't wait for Mafia 2

  • arrow89

    Posted Apr 13, 2008 8:10 pm PT

    hope it will be release as soon as possible

  • BloodMist

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 4:21 pm PT

    Mafia, Hidden and Dangerous 2, and Vietcong, all fantastic games.Such a wonderful developer, i hope they don't get screwed over by EA.

  • majidok

    Posted Apr 12, 2008 9:08 am PT

    Well , Illusion Softworks 3 games , Mafia, the Hidden & Dangerous series, and Vietcong , are among the top seller pc-games of all time , according to wikipedia's list of best-selling video games .

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Mar 10, 2008 6:51 am PT

    well it's cool to see so many of my favorite devs under one roof, it's not cool to see EA trying to buy up them all.

  • GRaider1

    Posted Feb 22, 2008 9:20 pm PT

    Mafia was the kind of game you dont get often. Great, multiple cutscenes and an in-depth storyline.

  • ahmed22

    Posted Jan 24, 2008 6:18 pm PT

    lets wait and see

    god! cant wait for the mafia sequel....

  • madmachinegun

    Posted Jan 13, 2008 9:53 am PT

    Illusion's games have been well-conceived, but I've always got the feeling that they didn't have enough people or funding to actually FINISH them. Assuming T2 doesn't fire the entire staff, I think T2's resources can help Illusion finally put out some amazing games.

    That being said....

    H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!H&D3!

  • dragonsama

    Posted Jan 10, 2008 7:28 am PT

    Darn! and here I thought that Rockstar bought the Famous H-Game maker. There goes my hopes of seeing Sexy Beach 2 in the US.

  • arrrpirate

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 8:29 pm PT

    no probs, i was confused by the term once long ago

  • iamjct212

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 4:51 pm PT

    thank you ARRRpirate, i appreciate your help

  • arrrpirate

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 4:46 pm PT

    IP in this case means "Intellectual Property". For example, "Mafia" is an IP. Just like Halo or Call of Duty or something like that is an IP. They consider it important to own high value IPs so that they can make sequels and make money off something people are already familiar with. A good IP like Halo is like a license to print money or can also be leveraged by a first party to help sell more systems.

  • iamjct212

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 1:47 pm PT

    What do they mean by "IP"? I know its not internet protocal.

  • brain20035

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 11:53 am PT

    mafia 1 was the best game ever! it was so cool. hope mafia 2 can keep up with the reputation

  • FraserAlexander

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 9:03 am PT

    GIVE ME SNIPER ELITE 2 2K! ...buy Rebellion and pay them enough to make it KILLER!

  • gamekhor06

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 8:39 am PT

    This is a Good News.
    Thanks

  • BlackTargetmark

    Posted Jan 9, 2008 3:57 am PT

    Let's just hope that Mafia II, at least, could be equal to GTA: VC. The screenshots made clear that the graphics are already been one of its forte, while we still must wait for the gameplay stuff.

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