Take-Two CEO: GTA 6 Presales Exceed Projections

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that presales for Grand Theft Auto VI are running far in excess of the company's expectations. The comment came in an interview ahead of the firm's earnings release. Zelnick noted that the company avoids claiming success before the official launch. He described the situation as being just days away from seeing the results of their work.

The game will release on November 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S and X devices. The standard edition is priced at $79.99, while the ultimate version costs $99.99. Rockstar Games has not confirmed exact pre-order totals, but Zelnick said the company will provide more data on performance after launch. He indicated that current numbers align with the unprecedented levels reported when pre-orders began in June.

During the same period, SAG-AFTRA issued a statement supporting the decision of Rockstar Games workers to unionize. Zelnick declined to comment on the unionization effort during the interview. He also deferred questions about future platform availability, including PC and Nintendo Switch 2, to Rockstar. He said that specific information regarding these releases always comes from the labels.

Take-Two reported game revenue of $1.38 billion for the July-September quarter. Advertising sales reached $121 million. Sales for the NBA 2K franchise were lower than anticipated. The company reported a net loss of $54 million for the quarter. Earnings per share came in at a loss of 29 cents. Net bookings totaled $1.6 billion.

Analysts expected a loss of 86 cents per share on revenue of $1.66 billion. The company's actual revenue figure of $1.6 billion fell slightly below that consensus estimate. The financial report provides a baseline for the performance of the upcoming title.