Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes that modifying Manhunt 2 so it would receive a lower rating (or at least get a rating in the UK) could cost Take-Two anywhere in the region of $1 million.

Last week Take-Two temporarily suspended its plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for both Wii and PlayStation 2. The company said, "Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the BBFC and ESRB."

We then revealed at the end of last week that Rockstar will appeal against the ban and the company has its fingers crossed for a release in the next few months.

If Rockstar attempts to tone down the content of game it could cost as much as $1 million according to analyst Michael Pachter.

He told GameDaily, "They will probably spend $1 million or so to rework the game. They will not have revenue from the game this quarter (ending July), so they will likely miss their guidance, but will make up most of it in a future quarter when the game is released. The overall financial impact is not that serious, provided sales don't suffer. It is hard to know whether the publicity helps or hurts, but my guess is that it hurts."

Read our hands-on feature about Manhunt 2 here.

June 25, 2007