While more often than not AAA publishers trademark various phrases to protect their properties indirectly and sometimes these trademarks are indicators of what games they've got in the pipeline. Rockstar Games' parent company and publisher of the GTA franchise, Take-Two Interactive, recently filed a rather odd trademark and it comes relatively soon after previous similar move.
Earlier this year around the time of a particularly nasty fallout between former Rockstar lead Leslie Benzies and Take-Two, the company filed a trademark for the name "Judas" under the "computer and video game programs" section. While some speculated that it is a way of prodding their former employee (highly, highly unlikely!), others suspect that the trademark is a hint at a future game, or at least its protagonist.
In the wake of that filing comes another one which is just as mysterious. The trademark is once again filed under the "computer and video game programs", and this time Take-Two has gone for the phrase "Ghost Story". Now, we think that "Ghost Story" iss far too generic to be the actual title of an upcoming game, however it could potentially be the working title of an on-going project. Could this mean that Take-Two is revisiting the horror franchise?
Either way, neither this nor "Judas" seem to be too telling when it comes to what the company's next major projects may be. For all we know, this has nothing to do with Rockstar Games and it very likely has nothing to do with GTA. Chances are the two are also unrelated, and are connected to the myriad projects being worked on by 2K, the other developer group under Take-Two's umbrella.
That said, this filing comes in during a time rife with speculation regarding what's next for Rockstar. We ran a survey recently trying to determine what the players want most, and GTA 6 came out in the lead with a landslide victory. However, if rumors are to be believed, it's actually Red Dead 3 that's being brewed over at Rockstar.
The future of the GTA franchise is also being discussed. The fear of single player being dropped entirely for the next installment hangs like a shadow over the community, while clickbait articles are trying to convince the community that Grand Theft Auto 6 has apparently been cancelled. Madness!
In any case, it's clear that GTA Online is still going strong, which should come as no surprise considering Rockstar wants it to stay profitable until at least 2020. Meanwhile, official channels are mum over what the devs are up to, but we're sure it's more than just Online DLC.
What do you make of this trademark filing?
