Take-Two teamed up with third-party developer Gearbox Studios to create and distribute Borderlands 2, which lowers its share of the profits, says BMO Capital analyst Edward Williams.

Still, despite its hit potential, Borderlands 2 isn’t a perfect fit for a Take-Two turnaround game. Take-Two’s stock has soared over 35% since August 1, reflecting, at least in part, growing enthusiasm about Borderlands. “ is a very unique title,” Take-Two COO Karl Slatoff said on the company’s July 31 earnings call, “There’s nothing else like it out there. Part of Borderlands’ potential success has to do with its blend of two popular video game genres, first person shooters and role-playing games. Rockstar takes a considerable amount of time between releasing its games (the latest Grand Theft Auto game was released in 2008), driving up Take-Two’s overall development costs. This unbridled success has given Grand Theft Auto’s in-house developer, Rockstar Games, free reign over the studio’s development process. That’s over six times the number of games sold by Take-Two’s second most successful franchise. As of September 2011, Grand Theft Auto titles had sold 20 million more units then the rest of Take-Two’s catalogue combined. Despite the lack of updates to the franchise, Grand Theft Auto product sales accounted for almost 14% of the company’s net revenue in fiscal year 2012. Take Two is also likely hoping that Borderlands can help the company rely a little bit less on Grand Theft Auto.

With no release date in sight for Grand Theft Auto V - the latest sequel to the company’s best-known and most profitable franchise - Take-Two must rely on space western shooter Borderlands 2, which hits shelves this week. Take-Two (TTWO) had had a rough go of it lately, and in July the company missed analyst’s estimates for the second straight quarter.

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