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Take-Two Beats Guidance in Q1 as GTA 6 Pre-Orders Go "Unprecedented"

Take-Two Interactive T2 logo beside a stylized man and woman with bandanas and guns in a sunset street scene.
Credit: T2

Take-Two Interactive posted better-than-expected results for its fiscal first quarter of 2027. The publisher leaned on strong NBA 2K26 sales and continued GTA momentum. The company is sticking with its full-year net bookings target of $8 to $8.2 billion, even as GTA 6 hype builds ahead of its November launch.


The Numbers for Q1 FY2027

For the three months ending June 30, 2026, Take-Two reported the following:

  • Net revenue: $1.53 billion, up 2% year over year

  • Net bookings: $1.39 billion, down 3% year over year

  • Net loss: $34.1 million, up 186% year over year compared to $11.9 million the prior year

  • GAAP loss per share: 18 cents, beating Wall Street's forecast of 21 cents

  • Recurrent consumer spending, or RCS, declined just 1% for the quarter, beating the company's own guidance of a 3% decline


Wall Street had expected $1.36 billion in revenue for the quarter, so Take-Two came in ahead of that mark too.


The $43.4 Million Elephant in the Room

Take-Two confirmed a $43.4 million revenue impairment tied to a cancelled game. The company described it only as an "unannounced title in its pipeline from a third-party developer."


Chief Accounting Officer Hannah Sage told GamesIndustry.biz that this cancelled project was one of three "core new IP" titles the company had flagged in its FY2026 report. That leaves just two confirmed new IP titles still standing in the pipeline:

  • Project ETHOS from 31st Union, which has been rebooted

  • Judas from Ghost Story Games, led by Ken Levine


No further detail was shared on what exactly got axed. The write-down explains a big chunk of why net loss jumped so sharply year over year.


NBA 2K Franchise Having a Moment

NBA 2K6 had a genuinely record quarter for the franchise. The numbers speak for themselves:


  • 12 million units sold, a 9% increase over the previous release

  • RCS up 7% for the title

  • Average daily active users up 15%

  • MyCAREER daily active users up 25%

  • Average games played per user up 35%


The investor deck also notes NBA 2K has sold in nearly 175 million units worldwide across its history, and it's considered one of the top 20 franchises in the history of interactive entertainment.


GTA 5 Still Selling, GTA 6 Pre-Orders Look Wild

Grand Theft Auto V has now sold in over 230 million units. It's still officially the best-selling title of the past 10 years in the US, based on both unit and dollar sales, according to Circana.


But the real story this quarter was GTA 6 pre-orders. CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked directly about the numbers during the earnings call and kept things vague, though enthusiastic. Here's what he said (via Variety):


"I can say that the level of preorders is unprecedented and astonishing, and we're very grateful for that. But they are so unprecedented that we just don't know how it'll translate into sales, which is a question I answered earlier. We genuinely don't, and we just don't believe in claiming victory before it occurs."

Pre-orders opened June 25, right after Rockstar confirmed pricing. Buyers can pick between:

  • Standard edition at $79.99, available digitally or physically as a code in a box

  • Ultimate edition at $99.99, which bundles in an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons and apparel


Zelnick also addressed why GTA 6 gets the higher price tag while NBA 2K27 sticks with the standard $70 when it launches in September. His reasoning was pretty simple:


"Our goal is to deliver way more value to consumers than what we charge them," pointing out that "the real cost of a AAA video game is a whole lot lower today than it was 20 years ago."


"To say that we expect that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be an incredible bargain as experiences go is a gross understatement, because Rockstar Games is known for overdelivering." According to Zelnick, Rockstar's track record backs this up. GTA Online is still delivering "record-setting engagements at times" a full 13 years after launch (via GamesRadar+).


Mobile Takes a Hit, But It's Not All Bad News

Not every part of the business was up this quarter. Mobile RCS declined 7%, mostly because last year's Color Block Jam performance set a high bar that was tough to repeat. Zynga's mature titles are also seeing trends moderate a bit.


Still, Take-Two isn't panicking. Zelnick called direct-to-consumer web stores "a significant driver of revenue and margin enhancement" with more growth expected there. He also acknowledged "a bit of pressure on user acquisition at the moment" but said studios like Zynga remain in line with expectations.


Looking at the full fiscal year, RCS is projected to decline 5% overall, with growth expected from NBA 2K and GTA offsetting a mobile decline.


Physical Games Are Basically an Afterthought Now


"Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed. It's already a digital business," he said (via IGN).


"So in certain instances, especially if it's a big game, discs just, and note I said discs, don't really make sense for the consumer. Also, most instances you have to register online to play anyhow. So if you're already connected, who cares if you download digitally?"

Development Pipeline Remains Packed

Take-Two has 29 titles currently in development across its three labels: Rockstar Games, 2K and Zynga. Breaking that down by category:


  • Mobile: 3 titles, including CSR 3 and Top Goal from Zynga

  • Sports: 8 titles, including NBA 2K27 launching September 4, plus PGA Tour 2K27 and WWE 2K27

  • Core new IP: 3 titles, including Judas and Project ETHOS

  • Core existing IP: 15 titles, made up of 8 sequels and 7 remakes, remasters or platform extensions


Development studio staff headcount sits at 9,998 as of March 2026, a slight dip from the 10,096 recorded the year before but still massively up from just 2,579 back in 2017.


The GTA 6 Release Date Question

Fans have been nervous about another delay given the game's history of pushed dates. Zelnick tried to put those fears to rest, reiterating confidence around the November 19 launch:


"Looking ahead, fiscal 2027 is on track to be a milestone year for our company, led by the release of Grand Theft Auto 6."

Marketing has been ramping up too. Rockstar announced an exclusive extended look at the game airing on Netflix on August 27, with wider YouTube and social availability six hours later.


Labor Dispute Backdrop

The earnings call also touched on ongoing tension at Rockstar North in Edinburgh, where 31 employees were dismissed last year, all reportedly members of the IWGB Game Workers Union. Zelnick addressed concerns about how this might affect the GTA 6 launch directly (via Eurogamer):


"Not in the least concerned. How you develop the game is different from the nature of your labour relations. We are very proud of our labour relations. We have an extraordinary workforce, 13,000 colleagues around the world, and we are proud of how people are treated and how people are compensated. We have the lowest attrition rate in the business by half, and Rockstar's attrition rate is half of that."

An employment tribunal on the matter is set to begin September 10.

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