TDK Mediactive was a brand name given to two multimedia divisions of Japanesemultinationalelectronics companyTDK; the first -TDK Mediactive Europe was a subsidiary ofTDK Recording Media Europe that dealt with the distribution of music DVDs and the publication ofvideo games andsoftware, while the other -TDK Mediactive, Inc. was solely a video game publisher and a rebranding of developer/publisher Sound Source Interactive. Both companies were unaffiliated with one another in management aside from licensing each other's titles for each market they operated under, and went their separate ways following changes in ownership.
TDK Mediactive Europe was a division ofTDK Recording Media Europe founded in 1999[1] that published video games, software and DVDs under the TDK brand.[2][3]
In April 2000, TDK Mediactive Europe announced they would secure exclusive international publishing rights to Sound Source Interactive's products.[4] This continued after the purchase of the company by TDK in September, with TDK Mediactive Europe became the exclusive European Publishing partner for technology and content licenses held by TDK Mediactive, Inc., which included publication and localization.[5] However, TDK Mediactive Europe continued to publish and distribute their own titles, such asKnights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade.[6]
On September 6, 2001, TDK Mediactive Europe supplied an exclusive North American licensing agreement to allow TDK Mediactive, Inc. to publish video games based onMercedes-Benz.[7]
On March 15, 2002, the company signed a deal with O3 Games to publishTemplar.[8] In June, it moved fromBascharage, Luxembourg, toRatingen, Germany, where TDK Recording Media Europe was already located.[9]
On May 4, 2005, TDK Mediactive Europe signed a publishing deal withPlaylogic Entertainment to allow the latter to publish their existing video game titles.[10] The fate of the TDK Mediactive Europe company itself is currently unknown, although the company's website remains open.[11]
TDK Mediactive, Inc. (formerlySound Source Interactive, Inc., later renamedTake-Two Licensing, Inc.) was an Americanvideo game publisher based inWestlake Village, California. Founded as Sound Source Interactive by Vincent Bitetti in 1988, the company acquiredBWT Labs in March 1998. In September 2000, the company was acquired byTDK and became TDK Mediactive.Take-Two Interactive acquired the company's North American operations in September 2003, renaming itself as Take-Two Licensing the following December. With the foundation of Take-Two Interactive's2K Games label in January 2005, Take-Two Licensing was effectively folded into the newsubsidiary.
On September 11, 2000,TDK acquired a 72%controlling stake in Sound Source Interactive, with an initial investment ofUS$1.425 million, followed by another ofUS$3.575 million, totaling toUS$5 million.[33] The buyout resulted in Sound Source rebranding under the TDK Mediactive name, with the company's founder, Vincent Bitetti, remainingchief executive officer and Shin Tanabe,President ofTDK Recording Media Europe and the European division of TDK Mediactive, becoming the publisher'schief operating officer.[34] As TDK Mediactive, the company published various video games, of which many based on licensed properties.[35] With this, TDK inherited Sound Source's existing licenses withUniversal Pictures forThe Land Before Time andThe Harvey Entertainment Company for theHarvey Comics characters, among others.
On December 20, 2000, the company signed an exclusive video game licensing deal withDreamWorks SKG to produce and publish games based onShrek.[36]
On April 13, 2001, the company signed a five-year deal with clothing brand No Limits to publish games based on the license.[37] AtE3 2001, the company secured the video game licensing rights toRoboTech fromMattel.[38] The company later signed a deal with The Beanstalk Group to produce games based onDinotopia. On September 27, 2001, the company announced a two-year co-publishing agreement withActivision Value to handle theRight of first refusal for TDK's PC titles.[39] In November 2001, the company announced to publish games for theGameCube.[40] This was followed with a licensing agreement fromDC to produce video games based onAquaman in December.[41]
In January 2003, the company purchased the video game licensing rights to theUFC fromCrave Entertainment.[48] May 2003, the company announced theirShrek 2 video game tie-in would be a co-publishing collaboration withActivision.[49][50]
On September 3, 2003, TDK Mediactive, Inc. announced that they were to be acquired byTake-Two Interactive for an estimatedUS$22.7 million.[51][52] The transaction was finalized on December 2, 2003, with 23,005,885 shares, valued atUS$12.6 million, and anotherUS$200,000 in cash awarded to TDK.[53] Afterwards, Take-Two rebranded TDK Mediactive, Inc. as Take-Two Licensing, Inc. and received all their licenses except for theShrek license, which was fully obtained Activision after they signed a new deal with DreamWorks, with Activision terminating its previous existing licensing agreement they previously had with TDK forShrek 2 games.[54][55]
On January 25, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of publishing label2K Games, into which Take-Two Licensing was folded.[56]
