GTA 4 Passes 13M; Big T2 Sequels Before November News

Sales of GTA IV passing the 13 million mark were enough to see Take-Two Interactive report net revenue of $256.8 million (£185.4 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended January 31st 2009, a 6.4% increase over the $240.4 million (£173.5 million)for the same quarter of fiscal 2008.

Despite the increased  revenue, the publisher reported a net loss for the quarter of $50.4 million (£36.4 million), compared to a loss of $38.0 million (£27.4 million) in the same period of fiscal 2008.  Take-Two attribute the increased loss to higher marketing, legal, and R&D expenses.

“Take-Two led off fiscal 2009 with somewhat better than expected performance. Our sales reflected the continued strength and diversity of our portfolio of top franchises, including Grand Theft Auto IV , Carnival Games , NBA 2K9 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles . Looking to the balance of the year, the economy remains challenging and uncertain, and our industry will not be immune to this environment. Consumers will continue to be highly selective in their purchases, including interactive entertainment. We need to deliver innovative, exceptionally compelling products to compete for this more limited consumer spending, and we are confident in our ability to do so,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.
 
Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two, commented, “We believe that in this economic environment, publishers that can offer both quality and value will attract the broadest audience of consumers. We believe Take-Two is solidly positioned on both fronts, with our world-class studios creating triple-A titles and Jack of All Games’ expertise in distributing value products.  We will continue to focus on our competitive strengths in both of these areas, while also investing in promising emerging markets, and leveraging our leading edge software development tools and technologies.  We recognize the challenges of balancing efficiency with creativity, and our team believes that we can manage the business effectively without sacrificing our renowned standards for excellence.”

Looking ahead to titles arriving during the remainder of fiscal 2009, Take-Two softened the bad news with confirmation that we could end up seeing Bioshock 2, GTA IV Second Episode DLC, Red Dead Revenge and Mafia II all arrive before November 1st 2009.  It seems as though Take Two has yet to decide which formats Bioshock 2 will appear on, as we suspect they're probably dangling the (timed) exclusive in front of both Sony and Microsoft.  Staying true to their word, still no mention of Team Bondi's elusive LA Noire.