GTA 5's 180 Million Copy Sales Sound Crazy, Yet Take-Two's Losses are Huge
Take-Two's financial report may cause concern among investors. Despite impressive sales figures - 180 million copies of GTA 5 speak for themselves - the company has recorded a sizable loss in recent months.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, the financial report of Take-Two Interactive for fiscal year 2023 reveals unexpectedly large losses on the part of the US giant.
Impressive figures
Despite larger-than-expected losses in the last quarter of the year, the publisher still boasts impressive sales results for its biggest brands.
- GTA V - 180 million copies (sales of the entire brand - more than 400 million units);
- Red Dead Redemption 2 - 53 million copies (sales of the entire brand - more than 75 million units);
- NBA 2K23 - 11 million copies.
Mobile titles also proved to be a significant driving force in Take-Two's portfolio. This was influenced by the acquisition of Zynga in May last year. The company, which specializes in mobile games, diversified the portfolio of the American giant, and casual titles such as Merge Dragons or Words With Friends, have enabled the company to infiltrate new areas of the game market.
The percentage of the publisher's revenue from the mobile market for fiscal 2023, moreover, was as high as 47 percent of the company's total turnover (as opposed to 12 percent the year before).. Take-Two promises further growth in this branch of the business and forecasts an increase in the aforementioned share to 53% in 2024.
Source: Take-Two Interactive; take2games.com
Source: Take-Two Interactive; take2games.com
Financial setbacks and future plans
Despite impressive sales figures and a new, diversified portfolio, Take-Two has also confronted serious problems. Losses for the last quarter, at $610 million, turned out to be almost three times higher than originally forecast.
Experts blame complications arising from last year's acquisition of Zynga. Development costs for ultimately canceled projects, such as a port of last year's Midnight Suns for the Nintendo Switch console.
Concerned investors were reassured by the company's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, announcing significant revenue growth in 2025 and 2026.. You can read about what this enigmatic prediction might mean in our earlier post (yes, it has to do with GTA 6).
Dissecting the company's future plans, Zelnick mentions three major launches by the end of March next year:
- NBA 2K24;
- WWE 2K24;
- "the eagerly awaited new IP from one of our leading studios."
In addition to the aforementioned items, the company's portfolio is expected to be bolstered by smaller games, such as LEGO 2K Drive, launching tomorrow.
