Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games released their financial report for the third fiscal quarter ending December 31. Analysts and data miners have already torn it apart searching for any valuable detail, especially regarding the release date of GTA 6.
During the release of GTA 6 first trailer (which garnered over 90 million views in 24 hours), Rockstar Games confirmed the game would be released in 2025. Their second fiscal quarter ending September 30 also suggested it. However, it appears the game has slipped beyond the anticipated release timeline.
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Well, analysts Michael Pachter and Nick McKay of Wedbush Securities said on Friday, February 9, 202 that it seems GTA 6 has slipped out of its anticipated early 2025 release window. The analysts published a research note titled “$7 Billion Means No GTA in FY:25” where they reacted to Take-Two’s downward revision of its guidance for fiscal year 2025 which starts from April 2024 and ends March 2025.
“We can only surmise that GTA 6 has slipped out of FY:25, in line with our earlier expectation,” the analysts wrote. “The drop makes us almost certain that GTA 6 will not be released next FY. With that said, we have no reason to believe the game has slipped out of calendar 2025, but it is reasonable to assume that it will launch later in the year.”
GTA 6 is not the only game getting delayed
No Rest for the Wicked by Moon Studios which was earlier scheduled to hit Steam early access in the first quarter of 2024 has now been delayed to the second quarter of the calendar year. No Rest for the Wicked will be published by Private Division, Take-Two’s publishing label.
“It did get pushed a quarter, and as always, we will move something if we feel like we just want to give it a little more polish so it can be the best bet it can be and be an even more amazing experience for consumers,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN.
The launch window for the full game is yet to be announced. However, it is safe to assume that the pushback of the early access will likely affect any date the developer and publisher earlier had in mind. Moon Studios will offer an in-depth look at the upcoming release’s systems and gameplay at a digital showcase planned for March 1.
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“We have been dreaming of being able to contribute to the ARPG genre that we all grew up with and love,” said CEO and creative director Thomas Mahler after the game was announced in December last year. “After the success of Ori, it was clear to us that Moon was now mature enough to finally realize those dreams. We can’t wait to see how players will react to this entirely new take on the genre.”
The studio’s technology and production director Gennadiy Korol added that, “For the past six years we’ve been hard at work on our dream passion project – a next-level ARPG, fueled by our love and ambition for tight gameplay mechanics and world-building”.
“We are excited to reveal our own take on what we’ve always envisioned as the core canons of the ARPG genre while taking the next steps to reimagine the elements we consider ripe for innovation.”
Take-Two Interactive’s Q3 beat expectations but not out of the woods yet
Take-Two Interactive beat its guidance in the third fiscal quarter report. Although sales have not matched expectations, the company posted the smallest quarterly net loss since its acquisition of Zynga in May 2022. The rundown of figures are as follows;
- Net revenue: $1.37 billion (slipped 3% year-over-year)
- Net loss: $91.6 million (compared to $153 million at the same time last year)
- Total net bookings: $1.34 billion (slipped 3% year-over-year)
The company’s popular games like Red Dead Redemption, GTA 5 Online, and GTA 5 beat the company’s expectations. However, one of the company’s staples NBA 2K24 dipped in sales numbers compared to the previous release.
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According to the financial report, NBA 2K24 has sold-in 7 million units which was 1 million units less than what NBA 2K23 sold at this time in its lifespan. Sold-in is a term used to describe how many of the games have shipped to the retailers—it doesn’t mean that all the copies are in the hands of players. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick attributed the dip in sales to the transition of gamers to newer generation systems.
“Remember, this is still a very good news story,” Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz in a briefing call on the earnings. “This is the number one-selling sports title in North America, obviously the number one basketball title. We’ve sold-in over 7 million units, and in the fullness of time, NBA 2K24 will generate net bookings in line with NBA2K23. So, this is largely a timing matter.”
Take-Two plans to carry out another “cost reduction plan” which is expected to be “more robust” compared to the last one. Some parts of the company have already witnessed layoffs including Visual Concepts Austin and 31st Union. Take-Two also lowered its full-year guidance to $5.25 billion – $5.3 billion, previously $5.37 billion – $5.47 billion.
