By Deborah Mary Sophia
Nov 9 (Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts on Monday, as the videogame publisher banks on the launch next week of the much-anticipated “Grand Theft Auto VI” to drive strong demand.
The company’s shares rose 4% in extended trading with CEO Strauss Zelnick saying pre-orders for “GTA VI” were tracking far in excess of initial expectations, even as Take-Two stuck to its bookings forecast for the year.
“We’re days away from the launch of ‘GTA VI’, and we tend to avoid claiming success before it occurs … There is really no need to update (bookings) numbers right now,” Zelnick said in a post-earnings call.
Widely regarded as Take-Two’s cash cow for the next several quarters, “GTA VI” is set to reach players’ hands on November 19, following multiple delays and about 13 years after its predecessor was released.
Take-Two began pre-orders for “GTA VI” in June and the title has seen about 7.71 million digital pre-orders worldwide as of November 3, according to Sensor Tower data.
The steep price tag for the title is also benefiting the company, with the standard edition available at $79.99 and the “Ultimate Edition” at $99.99. Nearly 90% of all pre-orders were placed for the higher-end version at the end of August, according to Sensor Tower.
In the September quarter, Take-Two released “NBA 2K27”, the latest edition in its basketball franchise, which saw weaker demand due to competition. The company said bookings and engagement will climb for the rest of the year thanks to an upcoming slate of in-game content.
Take-Two expects total revenue of $7.98 billion to $8.18 billion for fiscal 2027, up from $7.90 billion to $8.10 billion earlier. It raised the lower end of its per-share profit outlook by 2 cents, now projecting earnings of 57 cents to 75 cents.
It maintained its annual bookings forecast at $8 billion to $8.20 billion.
For the second quarter ended September, total bookings fell 18% to $1.60 billion, missing estimates of $1.67 billion.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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