Grand Theft Auto VI is looking to be one of, if not the biggest launch in gaming history. Hotly anticipated for over a decade, many are eagerly awaiting its launch come November, and even amidst controversies surrounding things such as physical releases and the $79.99 price tag, there doesn’t appear to be anything stopping its predicted success. This can be estimated by the already astounding number of pre-orders reported in a recent call between Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick and analysts where he stated, “I can say that the level of preorders is unprecedented and astonishing, and we’re very grateful for that”. According to the Variety article from which the information comes from, Take-Two Interactive drew $1.39 billion in sales between April 1st and June 30th, the quarter during which they began pre-sales for GTA VI on June 25th.
In the same call, Zelnick also stated regarding pre-orders, “…they are so unprecedented that we just don’t know how it’ll translate into sales, which is a question I answered earlier. We genuinely don’t, and we just don’t believe in claiming victory before it occurs”. So although things seem bright on the horizon for Take-Two, they are still cautiously anticipating how the actual launch for GTA VI will turn out, but I think it’s safe to say that this will probably be one of their greatest successes in sales history.
However, it should be noted that not all has been going up for Take-Two. Variety wrote that, “The $1.39 billion in total net bookings for the quarter (which marks the first quarter of Take-Two’s fiscal year) was not broken down by title in the company’s earnings results Friday (…) It should be noted that net bookings, an internal earnings metric used across the video game industry, are recorded when an order is placed, while revenue is based on actual earned income. Take-Two’s revenue for the quarter came in at $1.53 billion.”. According to Variety, net bookings were down 3% from $1.42 billion in the year’s prior quarter, and that “Losses for the quarter were $34.1 million compared with a loss of $11.9 million year over year”. However, Zelnick is still optimistic, saying, “Our excellent first quarter results reflect the power of our portfolio and disciplined execution across all of our labels (…) Looking further ahead, we expect to sustain this new level of scale and generate strong cash flows, setting us on a path to deliver continued growth and long-term shareholder returns”.
