• CNNMoney.com, Tuesday, April 10, 2007 11:01 AM

It's no secret that big media needs to mine new areas -- and video game publishers, which could use some added financial push, could help them move into the potentially lucrative world of online gaming.

As ever, it looks as though Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. will be first out of the gate. Take Two Interactive Software, the beleaguered publisher of the popular but controversial Grand Theft Auto series, is exploring a possible sale, or at least a spinoff of its flagging units. It may sound surprising that a big media company would be interested in such a controversial company; then again, people said the same thing about MySpace. Meanwhile, Disney has been involved in game publishing for years, while News Corp. bought the video game portal IGN not long after MySpace. Viacom owns game hub Xfire and has invested in Mortal Kombat publisher Midway.

Big game publishers are perennially faced with the problem of rising production budgets and a software price point that doesn't budge. A mere 20% of games rakes in more than 80% of the industry's revenue, so each title becomes a significant risk. But most analysts feel this latest round is console gaming's last stand, that the future belongs to the Internet. The Internet brings with it the promise of massively multiplayer online gaming, subscription revenue and dynamic in-game advertising.

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