On April 1, 2009, the SEC filed a complaint against Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The Commission stated: "From April 1997 through at least September 2003, defendant Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ("Take-Two" or the "Company"), through its former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") Ryan Brant ("Brant") and certain other former senior executives at Take-Two, fraudulently enriched officers, directors, and key employees at the Company by granting them backdated, undisclosed "in-the-money" stock options that coincided with dates of historically low annual and quarterly closing prices for Take-Two's common stock. As a result of the backdating scheme, Take-Two's records falsely indicated that the grants had occurred on the earlier dates when the Company's stock price had been at a low."

The SEC stated that: "[It] charged video and computer game publisher and distributor Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. for falsifying its reported income over a seven-year period. Take-Two agreed to pay a $3 million penalty to settle the SEC's charges that the company defrauded investors by granting backdated, undisclosed "in-the-money" stock options to officers, directors, and key employees while failing to record required non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses"

On April 4, 2009, the Court issued a final judgment against Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., stating: "Defendant Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. . . . consented to entry of this Final Judgment without admitting or denying the allegations of the Complaint (except as to jurisdiction); waived findings of fact and conclusions of law; and waived any right to appeal from this Final Judgment."