TDK Mediactive
Video game publisher
title: "TDK Mediactive" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["take-two-interactive-divisions-and-subsidiaries", "video-game-publishers", "video-game-companies-established-in-1990", "video-game-companies-disestablished-in-2005", "defunct-video-game-companies-of-the-united-states", "defunct-companies-based-in-greater-los-angeles", "1990-establishments-in-california", "2005-disestablishments-in-california"] description: "Video game publisher" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDK_Mediactive" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Video game publisher ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | TDK Mediactive Europe |
| type | Division |
| industry | Video games, Computer software, Home video |
| founded | |
| location_city | Ratingen |
| location_country | Germany |
| defunct | |
| parent | TDK Recording Media Europe (1999–2005) |
| :: |
TDK Mediactive was a brand name given to two multimedia divisions of Japanese multinational electronics company TDK; the first - TDK Mediactive Europe was a subsidiary of TDK Recording Media Europe that dealt with the distribution of music DVDs and the publication of video games and software, 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
| name = TDK Mediactive Europe | logo = | type = Division | industry = Video games, Computer software, Home video | fate = | founded = | founder = | location = | location_city = Ratingen | location_country = Germany | defunct = | parent = TDK Recording Media Europe (1999–2005)
TDK Mediactive Europe was a division of TDK Recording Media Europe founded in 1999 that published video games, software and DVDs under the TDK brand.
In April 2000, TDK Mediactive Europe announced they would secure exclusive international publishing rights to Sound Source Interactive's products. 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. However, TDK Mediactive Europe continued to publish and distribute their own titles, such as Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade.
On September 6, 2001, TDK Mediactive Europe supplied an exclusive North American licensing agreement to allow TDK Mediactive, Inc. to publish video games based on Mercedes-Benz.
On March 15, 2002, the company signed a deal with O3 Games to publish Templar. In June, it moved from Bascharage, Luxembourg, to Ratingen, Germany, where TDK Recording Media Europe was already located.
On May 4, 2005, TDK Mediactive Europe signed a publishing deal with Playlogic Entertainment to allow the latter to publish their existing video game titles. The fate of the TDK Mediactive Europe company itself is currently unknown, although the company's website remains open.
Video games
::data[format=table]
Take-Two Licensing
| name = Take-Two Licensing, Inc. | former_name = | logo = TDK Mediactive Logo.png | type = Subsidiary | industry = Video games | fate = Folded into 2K | founded = | founder = Vincent Bitetti | defunct = | hq_location_city = Westlake Village, California | hq_location_country = United States | key_people = | parent =
TDK Mediactive, Inc. (formerly Sound Source Interactive, Inc., later renamed Take-Two Licensing, Inc.) was an American video game publisher based in Westlake Village, California. Founded as Sound Source Interactive by Vincent Bitetti in 1988, the company acquired BWT Labs in March 1998. In September 2000, the company was acquired by TDK 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's 2K Games label in January 2005, Take-Two Licensing was effectively folded into the new subsidiary.
History
Sound Source Interactive was founded in 1988 by Vincent Bitetti. In March 1998, Sound Source Interactive announced that they had acquired BWT Labs, a Berkeley, California-based video game developer.
On September 11, 2000, TDK acquired a 72% controlling stake in Sound Source Interactive, with an initial investment of , followed by another of , totaling to . The buyout resulted in Sound Source rebranding under the TDK Mediactive name, with the company's founder, Vincent Bitetti, remaining chief executive officer and Shin Tanabe, President of TDK Recording Media Europe and the European division of TDK Mediactive, becoming the publisher's chief operating officer. As TDK Mediactive, the company published various video games, of which many based on licensed properties. With this, TDK inherited Sound Source's existing licenses with Universal Pictures for The Land Before Time and The Harvey Entertainment Company for the Harvey Comics characters, among others.
On December 20, 2000, the company signed an exclusive video game licensing deal with DreamWorks SKG to produce and publish games based on Shrek.
On April 13, 2001, the company signed a five-year deal with clothing brand No Limits to publish games based on the license. At E3 2001, the company secured the video game licensing rights to RoboTech from Mattel. The company later signed a deal with The Beanstalk Group to produce games based on Dinotopia. On September 27, 2001, the company announced a two-year co-publishing agreement with Activision Value to handle the Right of first refusal for TDK's PC titles. In November 2001, the company announced to publish games for the GameCube. This was followed with a licensing agreement from DC to produce video games based on Aquaman in December.
The company continued gaining exclusive video game rights to franchises through 2002. They secured a deal with Jim Henson Interactive to produce games based on The Muppets in April, an extension of their Shrek license to also include video game rights to Shrek 2, a deal with Mattel for He-Man, a Nintendo-only deal with Hasbro for the Tonka franchise in May (under a sub-licensing agreement with Infogrames), and Disney Interactive with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and The Haunted Mansion from Disney Interactive in July. On October 18, 2002, the company launched TDK Impulse, a publishing label intended for games that had "broad consumer appeal and a low price point".
In January 2003, the company purchased the video game licensing rights to the UFC from Crave Entertainment. May 2003, the company announced their Shrek 2 video game tie-in would be a co-publishing collaboration with Activision.{{Cite web | url=https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-and-tdk-mediactive-set-debut-shrek-2tm-game-e3-expo | title=Activision and TDK Mediactive Set to Debut Shrek 2™: The Game at E3 Expo 2003 | website=investor.activision.com}}
On September 3, 2003, TDK Mediactive, Inc. announced that they were to be acquired by Take-Two Interactive for an estimated . The transaction was finalized on December 2, 2003, with 23,005,885 shares, valued at , and another in cash awarded to TDK. Afterwards, Take-Two rebranded TDK Mediactive, Inc. as Take-Two Licensing, Inc. and received all their licenses except for the Shrek 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 for Shrek 2 games.
On January 25, 2005, Take-Two Interactive announced the opening of publishing label 2K Games, into which Take-Two Licensing was folded.
Games published
As Sound Source Interactive
::data[format=table title=""]
| Title | Platform(s) | Release date | Developer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babe: A Little Pig Goes a Long Way | Windows | Sound Source Interactive | ||
| Star Trek: The Game Show | Windows, Macintosh | Sound Source Interactive | ||
| The Abyss: Incident at Europa | Windows | Sound Source Interactive | ||
| :: |
As TDK Mediactive
::data[format=table title=""]
As Take-Two Licensing
::data[format=table]
| Title | Platform(s) | Release date | Developer | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corvette | Microsoft Windows | Steel Monkeys | ||
| Xbox | ||||
| Star Trek: Shattered Universe | PlayStation 2 | Starsphere Interactive | ||
| Xbox | ||||
| :: |
References
References
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- "TDK Europe Joins With Company for PlayStation Launch This Fall".
- (May 4, 2012). "TDK Mediactive Announces "Shrek"(TM) Kart Title for GBA".
- "TDK Mediactive E3 Lineup - News".
- (September 6, 2001). "TDK Mediactive Announces Agreement to Publish Games Based on". Bloomberg.com.
- (March 15, 2002). "O3 Games tecknar avtal med TDK".
- (27 June 2002). "TDK Mediactive zieht es nach Deutschland".
- "TDK Mediactive Europe - PLAYLOGIC INTERNATIONAL AND TDK MEDIACTIVE SIGN WORLDWIDE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT".
- "TDK Mediactive Europe".
- "Babe and Friends: Animated Preschool Adventure (1999) Macintosh release dates".
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- "Darkened Skye ships".
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- "Conan (2004) GameCube release dates".
- "Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade (2004) GameCube release dates".
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- "Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade (2004) PlayStation 2 release dates".
- "Company Background".
- "Company Background". Sound Source Interactive.
- (October 13, 1999). "Form 10KSB 1 FORM 10KSB".
- Jebens, Harley. (March 26, 1998). "BWT Bought by Sound Source".
- Ahmed, Shahed. (September 11, 2000). "TDK Plans Sound Source Acquisition".
- Hong, Quang. (September 12, 2000). "TDK Buys Sound Source".
- Fahey, Rob. (December 3, 2003). "Take Two completes TDK acquisition – but without Shrek".
- IGN staff. (December 20, 2000). "Shrek Signs with TDK Mediactive". Ziff Davis.
- (April 12, 2001). "No Rules for Game Boy Advance". Ign.
- "E3 2001: TDK Mediactive snags Robotech license".
- "TDK Signs a Co-Publishing Agreement with Activision".
- (November 30, 2001). "Shrek and Robotech to GameCube".
- (October 9, 2001). "TDK Hooks Aquaman License".
- "TDK grabs the Muppets".
- "TDK and DreamWorks Extend Shrek License Agreement to Include Sequel".
- (May 14, 2002). "By the Power of Grayskull".
- (May 21, 2002). "TDK Mediactive Gets Tonka License".
- (July 9, 2002). "It's a Pirates Life for TDK".
- (October 18, 2002). "TDK Mediactive Launches New Publishing Label".
- "TDK signs the UFC".
- IGN staff. (May 6, 2003). "E3 2003: TDK reveals lineup". IGN.
- Fahey, Rob. (September 3, 2003). "Take-Two buys TDK Mediactive, brings GTA to Xbox as profits rise".
- IGN. (September 3, 2003). "Take-Two Acquires TDK Mediactive".
- Jenkins, David. (December 2, 2003). "Take-Two Acquire TDK Mediactive".
- [https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-signs-agreement-dreamworks-video-game-rights-upcoming Activision Signs Agreement With Dreamworks For Video Game Rights To Upcoming Feature Film], ''investor.activision.com,'' December 19, 2003, Retrieved 2024-01-24
- Lewis, Ed. (December 2, 2003). "Take-Two Takes One".
- Jenkins, David. (January 25, 2005). "Take-Two Acquires Visual Concepts, Announces 2K Games Brand".
- "Disc label". Babe: A Little Pig Goes a Long Way Game Disc.
- (9 February 1998). "SOUND SOURCE AND PARAMOUNT TEAM UP TO RELEASE STAR TREKTM: THE GAME SHOW".
- (6 October 1998). "SOUND SOURCE INTERACTIVE NOW SHIPPING "THE ABYSS: INCIDENT AT EUROPA™" GAME CD-ROM".
- "The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure (2001) PlayStation release dates".
- (May 9, 2001). "Shrek: Fairy Tale FreakDown - IGN".
- (April 17, 2001). "Another Witch for Game Boy Color - IGN".
- (April 5, 2001). "TDK Mediactive Officially Announces Casper - IGN".
- (September 27, 2001). "Lady Sia Ships on Game Boy Advance - IGN".
- (November 22, 2001). "Get Phat on GBA - IGN".
- (October 30, 2002). "Shrek Ships - IGN".
- "Rainbow Islands (2001) Game Boy Color release dates".
- (March 20, 2002). "Shrek Skids to Shelves - IGN".
- (April 30, 2002). "Dinotopia Ships - IGN".
- (May 10, 2002). "Przym Goes Gold - IGN".
- "Robotech: Battlecry goes gold".
- (October 8, 2002). "Another Shrek Ships for GBA - IGN".
- "TDK launches new division".
- "He-Man ships".
- (October 16, 2002). "Robotech GBA Ships - IGN".
- (September 25, 2002). "A Party on Xbox - IGN".
- "TDK delivers Pryzm".
- "TDK ships two".
- "The Muppets: On with the Show (2003) Game Boy Advance release dates".
- (June 30, 2003). "Pirates of the Caribbean Out - IGN".
- (July 30, 2003). "Aquaman Ships - IGN".
- (August 2003). "Dinosaurs Once Again Walk the Earth - IGN".
- "Shrek: Reekin' Havoc ships".
- (October 16, 2003). "Haunted Mansion Released - IGN".
- "Corvette for PlayStation 2 (2004)".
- "Jim Henson's Muppets Party Cruise (2003) GameCube release dates".
- "Spy Muppets: License to Croak (2003) Game Boy Advance release dates".
- "Tonka Rescue Patrol (2003) GameCube release dates".
- (December 18, 2003). "Take-Two's Financial Results Reveals New Games - IGN".
- (May 16, 2003). "E3 2003: Star Trek: Shattered Universe Update - IGN".
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