Grand Theft Auto V reaches 155 million units sold worldwide, boosting Take-Two’s second fiscal quarter

Take-Two Interactive has released reported revenues from their second fiscal quarter, demonstrating the seemingly immortal status of Grand Theft Auto V.

The company has delivered an “outstanding quarter”, with net bookings Net Bookings of $985 million – exceeding Take-Two’s expectations and increasing 3 per cent when compared to last year, a period in which gaming revenues were boosted by the pandemic.

This better-than-expected performance was largely driven by Take-Two’s back catalogue, namely Borderlands 3, NBA 2K, and Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.

Grand Theft Auto V’s continuing success is particularly worthy of note. The now eight year old title has sold a total 155 million units worldwide. Grand Theft Auto Online meanwhile continues to perform as well, with the recent The Los Santos Tuners update further boosting player engagement. Recent consumer spending has increased 33 per cent, and active player audience increased 11 per cent – the strongest second quarter on record for both metrics.

Recurrent consumer spending rose 7 per cent during the quarter, significantly above Take-Two’s expectations of an 11 per cent decline and accounted for 69 per cent of Net Bookings. Consumer engagement trends remained consistently strong, even as lockdowns eased, schools opened and people returned to more normal ways of socialising with one another. This is a strong sign that the COVID-19 gaming boost from last year may be leading to longer-term growth overall, even once the pandemic is behind us.

For the quarter, Take-Two posted revenues of $858 million (up 2 per cent) while its GAAP net income was down 90 per cent year over year to $10.3 million – falling short of the projected $41-51 million

Take-Two said that it is pleased with the progress of T2 Mobile Games, and name-checked their recent acquisition of Top Eleven developer Nordeus, which has already reached key integration milestones. Top Eleven itself has exceeded Take-Two’s expectations, driven by strong seasonal LiveOps and features, optimised marketing activities and enhanced user quality.

Looking ahead, Take-Two is raising its outlook for Fiscal Year 2022, and is now expecting to achieve Net Bookings of $3.3 to $3.4 billion. The company said that it is focused on bringing new intellectual properties to market in order to diversify its portfolio. However, it is also working to deliver sequels to existing franchises.