Take-Two’s quarterly report covered a number of topics, but Grand Theft Auto VI is the most important of them all.
The Strauss Zelnick-led publisher is on track to meet the high end of its own expectations (with net revenues of $1.47 billion this quarter), and the target for the full fiscal year remains $5.55-5.65 billion, so Take-Two is not struggling. Zelnick says they are in such a strong position because of Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands. They have one of the strongest IP portfolios, according to Zelnick, who added that the next fiscal year will see Grand Theft Auto VI (coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series in the fall), Borderlands 4 (but of course it won’t be too close to the launch of GTA VI…) and Mafia: The Old Country, the prequel to the franchise.
Sales of Grand Theft Auto V have exceeded the publisher’s expectations and the game, which has been out for 11 years (!!!), has now sold over 205 million copies. Grand Theft Auto Online is also soaring as it continues to keep players engaged, with Grand Theft Auto+ subscribers up 35% in one year. Red Dead Redemption 2 also continues to sell well and is now at 67 million units sold.
Zelnick also touched on the Borderlands movie… and let’s just say he’s not happy: “Even though the movie was disappointing, it actually helped our catalog sales, so that’s a sign that making a movie or a TV show can help sales, and that’s a good thing. We’re very selective because we want everything that comes out with our brands in it to be really, really successful. We can’t guarantee that, especially when it’s out of our hands, so we’ve licensed other titles, will continue to do so selectively, but emphasis on the word ‘selectively,'” Zelnick said.
So Grand Theft Auto VI is still on target: it’s still about a year away on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.
