'Grand Theft Auto VI' won't come until fall 2025, and Take-Two shares slip

By Mike Murphy

Shares of videogame maker Take-Two-Interactive Software Inc. fell 2.5% in after-hours trading Thursday after the company said its highly anticipated "Grate Theft Auto VI" game won't be released until fall 2025, and lowered its bookings forecast for the current fiscal year.

In December, Take-Two's (TTWO) Rockstar Games announced in a trailer that the videogame sequel would come sometime in 2025. As Take-Two reported fourth-quarter and fiscal-year earnings Thursday, executives narrowed that release window to fall 2025.

On a call with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Lanie Goldstein said "our confidence in the title and its potential commercial impacts continue to grow," according to a FactSet transcript.

But analysts - and gamers - had hoped for a release earlier in 2025.

The company now forecasts bookings of $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion in fiscal 2025, down from an original estimate of $8 billion, which had been reduced to about $7 billion earlier this year. Take-Two's fiscal year ends in March.

Still, its quarterly bookings of $1.35 billion beat analysts' estimates, due in part to the remarkable staying power of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise. "GTA V," which came out a decade ago and is the most successful videogame of all time, grew its audience 35% for the full year, and "Grand Theft Auto Online" grew 23%, according to Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick.

Take-Two also publishes titles such as "Red Dead Redemption," "Borderlands" and "NBA2K."

Take-Two posted a $2.9 billion GAAP net loss for the fiscal fourth quarter, after estimating a loss of between $170 million and $153 million. A $2.18 billion goodwill charge made up most of the loss, the company said, along with $304.3 million in acquisition-related expenses and restructuring costs of $93.3 million.

In April, Take-Two announced layoffs and said it would cancel a number of games and projects in development in an effort to save about $165 million a year.

Take-Two shares are down about 9% year to date, compared to the S&P 500's SPX 11% gain.

-Mike Murphy

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05-16-24 2050ET

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