<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[GameUP24]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://gameup24.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[William A.]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://gameup24.wordpress.com/author/louzwate/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[After Red Dead 2 Reviews Hit, Take-Two Stock&nbsp;Soars]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div><img src='https://static.gamespot.com/uploads/screen_medium/1585/15855271/3455238-rdr2_screenshot+015.jpg' style='max-width:600px;' /></p>
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<div><img src="https://static.gamespot.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/1585/15855271/3455238-rdr2_screenshot+015.jpg" title="After Red Dead 2 Reviews Hit, Take-Two Stock Soars - GameSpot" /></p>
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<p>After suffering a slight dip over the last couple of weeks, the stock for Take-Two Interactive&#8211;the parent company of <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/red-dead-redemption-2/">Red Dead Redemption 2</a> publisher Rockstar Games&#8211;is up today upon positive critical reception for the game. This puts the company&#8217;s stock near its all-time high.</p>
<p>As of the time of writing, the stock is at roughly $120 USD, a gain of about 9% from yesterday&#8217;s market close. For comparison that&#8217;s almost four times the increase of the overall NASDAQ average gain today, of which Take-Two is a part. That doesn&#8217;t quite recover to its high point of $138 in late September, but it&#8217;s close considering the stock only steadily entered the triple-digits over the last year.</p>
<p>The most precipitous fall came in mid-October, just after an <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-boss-shares-some-shocking-st/1100-6462531/">interview with Dan Houser</a> kicked off criticism about Rockstar&#8217;s development culture and crunch. He later <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/rockstar-clarifies-red-dead-redemption-2s-100-hour/1100-6462550/">clarified</a> that he was only referring to the long hours of himself and a few other senior writers, but the criticism persisted. The company <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-developers-speak-openly-abou/1100-6462631/">allowed developers to speak openly</a> and at least one studio called a meeting to explicitly tell employees that <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/red-dead-redemption-2-studio-tells-employees-overt/1100-6462691/">overtime isn&#8217;t mandatory</a>. Just yesterday <a href="https://kotaku.com/inside-rockstar-games-culture-of-crunch-1829936466" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kotaku</a> published an in-depth investigative piece regarding crunch at the studio.</p>
<p>Positive reviews appear to be serving as a shot in the arm for the company stock. The game has scored an aggregate score of 97 on GameSpot sister site <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/red-dead-redemption-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Metacritic</a>, earning it a &#8220;Must Play&#8221; designation. In GameSpot&#8217;s <a href="https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/red-dead-redemption-2-review-outlaw-country/1900-6417019/">Red Dead Redemption 2 review</a>, critic Kallie Plagge said that despite being a prequel, Red Dead 2 stands on its own.</p>
<p>&#8220;Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it&#8217;s also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it&#8217;s a world that is hard to leave when it&#8217;s done,&#8221; she said.</p>
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<p><i>Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email <a href="mailto:news@gamespot.com?subject=Hi%20GameSpot!%20I%20have%20a%20news%20tip%20for%20you!">news@gamespot.com</a></i></p>
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<p><em>Source: <a style="text-decoration:none;" href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/after-red-dead-2-reviews-hit-take-two-stock-soars/1100-6462790/">GameSpot</a></em></div>
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