Key Takeaways from Take Two Interactive Earnings Call
This video covers the highlights of the Take Two Interactive earnings call from May 16, 2022. Take Two Interactive reported end-of-year earnings of around $3.4 billion across all their properties, although they did not reveal what percentage of that was from Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5, GTA Plus or Shark Card sales. However, 30 percent of next year’s earnings are expected to be from Rockstar Interactive.
Acquisition of Zynga Games
Take Two’s acquisition of mobile game provider Zynga Games is going ahead as planned and may be completed as early as next week. Red Dead Redemption 2 performed better than expected last quarter, so it is hoped this will result in more development resources going forward. Additionally, the Borderlands spin-off, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, did well, leading to a brighter outlook for the franchise.
GTA Sales, Subscription Services, and Content Updates
GTA’s launch on next-gen consoles exceeded expectations, with overall sales of GTA 5 reaching 166 million units since its release. Sales of GTA Plus were also higher than anticipated. As a result, Take Two will look into applying this subscription model across their other properties.
While some may be disappointed to hear that dev resources for GTA Online are being dialled back over the next quarter, this is actually due to the completion of the expanded and enhanced edition for next-gen consoles, which requires less code maintenance going forward. As for GTA 6, Strauss Zeldick, CEO of Take Two, responded to a question regarding the game by saying that Rockstar has not talked about any details on the next generation of Grand Theft Auto.
Insight into Recruitment Plans
Take Two has added a thousand new developers to their stable, mostly through acquisitions and mergers. While this has led some to believe it is a positive sign for GTA 6, the new developers will mostly continue to work on existing games, including GTA 5.
Possible Release Date for GTA 6
While there is no mention of GTA 6 on the projected revenue roadmap through to 2025, the CEO’s phrasing about the “next iteration” of the game suggests that its release may not be imminent. The earliest possible release could be in 2024, although the wait may be as long as Q1 2026. Rockstar Games may announce the game and release it earlier than expected, but this is categorised as being “extremely unlikely”.
Overall, the video touches on some of the key points from Take Two Interactive’s earnings call. While details regarding GTA 6 are scarce, it’s clear that the franchise continues to be a major player in the video game space, with GTA 5 and GTA Plus sales exceeding expectations.