Take-Two Interactive released its earning reports early August 8, 2022, reporting “strong results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2023.” For those unaware Take-Two Interactive is an American video game publisher based in New York City. They are incredibly important figures in the video game industry, owning popular development studios such as Rockstar Games and 2K.
According to the report, Take-Two reported that the first quarter of its fiscal year 2023 kicked off with first quarter Net Bookings of $1 billion. Compared to the previous years fiscal first quarter of $711.4 million, during last year’s fiscal first quarter Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two, noted that the current year’s results exceeded expectations.
“We remain exceedingly optimistic about the long-term growth potential for the mobile industry, as well as our ability to create greater shareholder value as a combined entity with Zynga.” said Zelnick. “Our creative teams are actively discussing potential new projects and we remain committed to delivering over $500 million of annual Net Bookings opportunities over time. At the same time, we continue to believe that we can achieve approximately $100 million of annual cost synergies within the first two years post-close, with the potential for upside.”
Looking into the future Zelnick anticipates the company delivering “Net Bookings of $5.8 billion to $5.9 billion” when in combination with Zynga, since the company’s completed acquisition on May 23, 2022.
“Our pipeline for the year continues to look very strong, and we are excited to expand significantly our mobile presence with a best-in-class platform,” said Zelnick. “Our new forecast takes into account some movement in our release slate for the year, foreign currency pressures, and macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. As we look to the future, our long-term vision is clearer than ever, and we believe that our combination with Zynga will enable us to better capitalize on the evolving dynamics of the interactive entertainment industry…”
The report moved on to detail highlights of the business practices and products within each development studio underneath Take-Two during the First Quarter. They highlighted Rockstars continuing efforts to support Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption Online, the release of The Criminal Enterprises, the GTA+ membership program, and the release of Max Payne 3 – The Official Soundtrack (Anniversary Edition).
For 2K, the report went over the full roster of cover athletes for NBA 2K23, new seasons for NBA 2K22, five DLC packs for WWE 2K22, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, another entry in the Tales from the Borderland, the release of the XCOM 2 Collection on the Epic Games Store, and the announcement of The Quarry, The highlights for Private Division were small, with only the release date announcement of Rollerdrome and the digital launch of OlliOlli World: VOID Riders.
Finally, Zynga’s highlights detailed a Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells in-game event celebrating the release of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”; Empires & Puzzles fifth season: Dynasty of Dunes, Zynga Poker’s Omaha update, Words With Friends new feature Clubs, and Colors Runners! reaching “the #1 top free downloaded games position in the U.S. App Store on June 21, 2022.”
Overall, Take-Two Interactive anticipates great things to come in the rest of the fiscal year but will continue to revise their outlook until March 31, 2023.