Take-Two reports 98% increase in net loss, but its FY25 guidance hints at possible GTA VI release window again

Financial highlights

• According to its latest report, Take-Two reached $1.28 billion in net revenue in the quarter of FY24, up 17% year-over-year. Digital sales accounted for 97% of the company’s total revenue.
• Mobile was the leading platform, accounting for 57% of net revenue. It is followed by Console (39%) and PC (8%).
• Net bookings grew 20% year-over-year to $1.2 billion. Microtransactions and other recurrent spending accounted for 84% of the total.

• Net loss was $206 million, up 98% from the same period last year.
• “Our core business trends remain healthy, and we are reiterating our prior guidance of $5.45 to $5.55 billion in Net Bookings for Fiscal 2024,” Take-Two CEO Straus Zelnick said in a statement.
• Following the publication of the Q1 report, Take-Two shares jumped 5% to $147 per share.

Main revenue drivers and Take-Two’s production pipeline

Revenue and net bookings growth in the first quarter was largely driven by NBA 2K23, GTA V (+ Online), and Zynga’s mobile titles such as Empires & Puzzles, Toon Blast, and Merge Dragons.

“In the current macroeconomic backdrop, we continue to observe that many of our consumers are purchasing established franchises and those that offer strong value, and our catalog stands at the intersection of these two trends,” Take-Two said.

The company also updated sales figures for some of its core franchises:

• Grand Theft Auto — 405 million units, of which 185 million are GTA V;
• Red Dead Redemption — 79 million units, of which 55 million are RDR 2;
• NBA 2K — 140 million units, of which 13 million are NBA 2k23 (exceeded Take-Two’s expectations);
• Borderlands — 81 million units, of which 27 million are Borderlands 2 and 18 million are Borderlands 3 (2K’s fastest-selling title);
• Sid Meier’s Civilization — 67 million units;
• BioShock — 42 million units.

By FY26 (ending March 31, 2026), Take-Two plans to launch:

• 17 “immersive core” games — large AAA releases like GTA and its sports franchises;
• Take-Two also confirmed that it still expects to reach $8 billion in net bookings in FY25 (ending March 31, 2025), which is much higher than its guidance for the current fiscal year — this may indicate that GTA VI might be released during that window (April 2024 — March 2025);

Take Two: “We still expect to deliver $8 billion in Net Bookings… next year.”

That “still” is them reiterating massive revenue expectations (vs. $5.5 billion in the current year) for April 2024-March 2025. Certainly looks likes code for “that’s when GTA 6 is slated to release”

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) August 8, 2023

• 7 independent titles — from its Private Division label, plus one game developed under its partnership with Weta Workshop and another in collaboration with Game Freak;
• 18 mobile titles — mainly new releases from Zynga, such as Star Wars Hunters and Top Troops, and the mobile version of GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition;
• 4 midcore games — like LEGO 2K Drive;
• 6 new iterations of previously released games — various remasters and ports, including Red Dead Redemption for Switch and PS4 (Zelnick told IGN that its $50 price point is “commercially accurate”).