Game Over: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc

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San Francisco - A feisty shareholder revolt at Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. this week offed nearly as many executives as

virtual characters in the video game company's violent titles.

The result was a new CEO and several new board members now leading the company.

Take-Two's stock shares rose $1.36, or 6.5 percent than climbed to $21.10 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. in extended trading Thursday.

Strauss Zelnick, former chief executive of BMG Entertainment, which became part of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). in 2004, is the company's new non-executive chairman.

Ben Feder, formerly a senior executive at News Corp was named acting CEO, as the replacement for the now the former CEO and president Paul Eibeler.

In a statement confirming the shareholder vote, Zelnick praised the company's "exceptional brands and creative resources" and vowed that the game maker's new leadership would focus on maximizing its value to shareholders, gamers and employees.

The coup caps several years of drama at New York-based Take-Two, one of the world's biggest video game publishers and a rival to Activision Inc., THQ Inc. and top-selling Electronic Arts Inc.

Take-Two's former chairman and CEO, Ryan A. Brant, became the first chief executive to be convicted of backdating stock options. In February, he pleaded guilty in a New York state court to first-degree falsification of business records in a deal that lets him avoid prison.

In the past, financial analysts have criticized Take-Two for relying too heavily on relatively uncreative sequels, sports games and bloodthirsty "first-person shooters." While so-called hardcore games remain popular with teens and young men, new online genres — trivia quizzes, word games and multiplayer role-playing games — are catching on with women, older players and millions of mobile phone users.

Child advocacy groups and legislators are Take-Two's biggest foes, complaining that the company produces the industry's most violent, mean-spirited games.

In "Grand Theft Auto," players shoot pedestrians and police with reckless abandon. Another hit is "Bully," about a slingshot-wielding 15-year-old at Bullworth Academy boarding school, whose motto is "Canis Canem Edit," Latin for "dog eat dog."

Take-Two is best known for a version of "Grand Theft Auto" that included a hidden, lewd scene that sparked a 2005 congressional uproar.

Programmers at many game publishers hide bonus material or tricks that players may unlock with special codes. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" had a modification distributed online known as "Hot Coffee," which allowed players to download modifications to reveal oral sex scenes.

The House voted 355-21 to pass a resolution asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Take-Two and its subsidiary, Rockstar Games. With the house vote, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc. pulled the game, which was the top seller of 2004.

Take Two initially said the scenes were not part of the retail version of the game but were created by third parties. However the company later acknowledged the scenes were contained in its version.

Video game industry analyst Tom Gardner, CEO of Alexandria, Va.-based investment company The Motley Fool, praised the revolt.

"Sometimes institutions play football with small public companies, and they can inflict a lot of damage if companies don't have a large enough ownership stake to protect against institutions that squeeze out profits in the near term," Gardner said. "But in this case, the institutions look quite good: You have backdated options, hidden porn, accounting issues and mismanagement. You have management that was at best incompetent and at worst dishonest."

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