Take-two Interactive
Latest
Take-Two revenue up 155% during Q2, outlook removes $600 million following GTA 5 delay
Take-Two had a great second quarter (ending September 30), with revenues of $273.1 million, a 155 percent increase from the $107 million in the previous Q2. At the end of the day, however, the company did have a net loss of $12.5 million, which is still significantly better than the $123.3 loss from the same period last year.The big gun during the quarter was Borderlands 2, which shipped over 5 million units, along with catalog sales of Grand Theft Auto 4 and Red Dead Redemption. Revenue from digital distribution was up 108 percent year-over-year, with "strong digital sales" (i.e. non-retail) mentioned for new releases Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown.With Grand Theft Auto 5 officially given a spring 2013 release window, it should be noted that Take-Two reduced its "financial outlook" for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, removing $600 million in forecasted sales. That extra $600 million raised our eyebrows when it appeared in the company's projections at the beginning of the fiscal year, as the math would only really work out if Take-Two was planning GTA 5 before April 1, 2013. That is, obviously, no longer the case and the company has reduced its outlook to "reflect its revised assumed release schedule."
Grand Theft Auto 5 officially receives 'Spring 2013' release window
Take-Two Interactive just announced Grand Theft Auto 5 has a release window of "Spring 2013," with pre-orders for the sandbox crime drama beginning November 5 for PS3 and Xbox 360. There is no mention of a PC version in the company's press release.The official window word comes hours after UK retailer GAME tweeted out promotional material with the date stamped on it. Take-Two Interactive was supposed to have its second quarter investor call today, but canceled due to the aftermath of hurricane Sandy.
XLGAMES developing Civilization Online for Asia
ArcheAge may be foremost on the minds of MMO fans when they hear about XLGAMES, but as we reported last summer, the company is also working with Take-Two Interactive to bring Civilization Online to fruition. Unfortunately there's no word yet on when (or if) the title will be available in the West. Take-Two's latest press blurb says that Civilization Online is being built exclusively as a connected experience and exclusively for Asia. XL CEO and Lineage/ArcheAge guru Jake Song is overseeing a team of "more than 100" developers working on the project.
Civilization Online announced for Asia
Take-Two Interactive announced Civilization Online this morning for Asia, another milestone in its continental market expansion. In partnership with Korean-based studio XLGAMES, the game is being built "from the ground up" as an online-only experiences for the Asian market.Civilization studio Firaxis is mentioned as lending its expertise and vision, but the game is being created "under the leadership of " XLGAMES CEO and MMOG designer Jake Song, who helped create Lineage. A team of "more than 100" are working on the project in Seoul."Over the last four years, we have been focused on creating an ambitious portfolio of online and social games with some of the most revered companies in Asia such as Tencent in China, Nexon Korea Corporation and XLGAMES in Korea, GREE and CyberAgent in Japan," said Take-Two Asia president Hubert Larenaudie.Take-Two notes that response in the region to NBA 2K Online, which launched yesterday after months of beta testing, has been very encouraging. It hopes to find that same success with the Nexon-partnered Pro Baseball 2K and Civilization Online.Take-Two chief operating officer David Ismailer concluded today's announcement, "Civilization Online is an example of how 2K can leverage its successful franchises, beyond sports, to create entirely new experiences in genres that resonate with customers in this region."
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is $2.49 on Steam today
The most stylish entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, Vice City, is on sale today through Steam. The fast boats, quick carjackings and speedball simulator is 75 percent off, making the game a mere $2.49.To think, back in the '80s, one could get two gallons of gas for that price.
NBA 2K13 enjoys lack of competition, record sales
2K Sports' NBA 2K13 is reaping the benefits of EA's inability to develop a basketball game, with publisher Take-Two announcing the game has surpassed franchise sales records. Although no specific figures were provided, NBA 2K13 reportedly sold 49 percent more worldwide during its first-week sales than previous record holder NBA 2K11."Our early sales figures are a validation of our ongoing efforts to push this franchise to new heights," said 2K Sports VP of marketing Jason Argent. "We owe it to our great fans to continually improve our title - year in and year out - and that's exactly what we've done with NBA 2K13."And, hopefully, Argent is sending an Edible Arrangement over to EA Sports HQ to thank them, as well. EA's canceled NBA Live 13, intended as a digitally distributed product, was the third year in a row Electronic Arts didn't show up for the basketball match.
Play as Sid Meier, Ken Levine in XCOM: Enemy Unknown
An XCOM: Enemy Unknown Easter egg allows players to bring in the heavy hitters when times are bleakest. PC Gamer points out that certain soldier names will activate "XCOM Heroes," who are pre-designed super soldiers.Name alterations for soldier unlocks that have worked so far are Sid Meier, Ken Levine, Joe Kelly and Otto Zander. The one caveat for this phenomenal cosmic super soldier creation power is that once these heroes are summoned the achievements for the game will be turned off.We also concur with PC Gamer's request that you make sure Levine lives, since after saving humanity from aliens we'd appreciate him finishing BioShock: Infinite.
Metareview: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM: Enemy Unknown, a turn-based strategy game, is getting pretty high marks across the board. We'll let that "turn-based strategy" bit sink in before we continue.... Okay, so, it is a strategy game from Firaxis, the studio behind the accessible Civilization series, which we said in our review "deftly blended management, tactics and the sort of gut-level, throaty encounters usually reserved for fast-paced action games." Edge (90/100): "Charting a course through Earth's imminent destruction is as unashamedly difficult as it was in 1994's X-COM. It's possible, through bad planning and bad management, to doom the planet early on, making the game feel unfair. Get it right, however – survive the stresses of management, and the strains of aliens – and you'll feel like world's greatest hero." Eurogamer (90/100): "So much craft has gone into its atmosphere, into innumerable small details that together add enormous depth and flavour to the world: the occasional conversations overheard while fiddling around in the base; the mission loading screen, which gives you a view of the troops inside the carrier, fidgeting and tapping their feet in transit; the ridiculously cute touch of soldiers acquiring nicknames like 'Longshot' or 'Odin' after a few missions; the memorial room for fallen warriors, with a cork board of photos on the wall, which records their names - and the fact that visiting it triggers, after a few seconds, the sound of a bagpipe march. " Destructoid (90/100): "I was disappointed EU didn't have a great story, at first. But, somewhere along the way, my own story played out through the game's intense missions and grueling decision making back at the base. My story is about an unlikely group of space heroes. After months of waging a seemingly impossible war, my elite squad of XCOM soldiers died." Polygon (85/100): "While tactical, squad-based combat has never felt so effortless and rewarding, the strategy component takes just enough away to make the game as a whole feel like two slightly disjointed halves. One of those halves just so happens to be one of the best and most artfully-designed strategy games in recent memory." IGN (82/100): "Recently Firaxis has been very willing to try new things with its franchises, and it's great to see both the revival of the XCOM franchise and the extension of strategy games on the consoles. You're still likely to want a bit more depth and surprise in the tactical game, but the campaign is full of tense moments that are sure to keep you coming back for more."
Zelnick: Take-Two didn't meet fiscal 2012 expectations because of delays
Take-Two Interactive didn't meet its revenue and profit goals for fiscal year 2012 because it delayed some games, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick admitted during a stockholder meeting today."This was primarily due to our decision to postpone the release of several titles in order to allow for additional development time," Zelnick said, without naming any specific games. "Although our commitment to quality may occasionally affect near-term results, we believe it's the right approach for maximizing revenue and profits over the long-term."Zelnick later mentioned BioShock Infinite, which was delayed to February 26, and Grand Theft Auto 5, which never had an official release date but was widely expected to launch some time in 2012. After all, Take-Two has a probable $600 million deficit in its 2013 outlook, expecting to earn $1.7 billion - $1.8 billion by March."Grand Theft Auto 5 is in full development and making substantial progress," Zelnick added.%Gallery-163291%
NBA 2K Everywhere puts NBA 2K13 on everything
2K Sports has announced NBA 2K Everywhere, an omnipresenent initiative for every device that's within a few feet of you at all times. Beyond the core game for consoles and PC, there will be an NBA 2K13 companion app for a whole mess of mobile devices, a social game on Facebook, a regular mobile version of the game for iOS and Android and ... that may be it?The MyNBA2K app, available in October for iOS, Android and Kindle, will be a collection of minigames, and will also connect to the main game's MyCAREER and MyTEAM features. The Facebook game, NBA 2K: MyLIFE, will allow players to import their MyCAREER avatar from the main game to compete for endorsement deals, which will unlock rewards in the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the main game. Finally, there's an NBA 2K13 game for iOS and Android – again, available in October.NBA 2K13 will be available in, you guessed it, October. EA's unusually quiet NBA Live 13 should be available around the same time, following a multi-year hiatus.%Gallery-162192%
Here, watch this hour of XCOM gameplay
Were you looking to watch an overabundance of new XCOM footage? 2K Games and Firaxis are sure hoping so, as the two companies took to Twitch.tv yesterday afternoon for just that – an entire hour of XCOM: Enemy Unknown hosted by Firaxis' Jake Solomon and Garth DeAngelis.What's that? You want even more XCOM coverage? We've got this handy, international-flavored podcast with the aforementioned Firaxis devs right here. You can almost taste the Gaffel Kölsch!
Citizens! Rise up against the alien scum by joining XCOM!
The time is now: war is upon us, and the alien invaders must be beaten back. Luckily for us, the aliens operate on a turn-by-turn basis, so there's plenty of time to decide how best to defend Earth. The XCOM awaits, soldier. The enemy, however, remains unknown.
Borderlands gets demade, is playable in your browser and totally rad
You wanna play Borderlands, but you're stuck at your job. Also, the new Borderlands still isn't out, and you've played so, so much of the first one. Or maybe you're only into 16-bit games? The Borderlands remake – an official part of the Borderlands 2 marketing campaign – is here, and it's pretty boss.Well, okay – it's as boss as a top down, 16-bit, browser-based rendition of Borderlands could possibly be. Incidentally, that's far, far more boss than we had imagined. What're you still doing here? Go play it!
Co-opinion: XCOM: Enemy Unknown multiplayer
.portal-left { padding: 10px; background: #CCC; margin: 20px 0; min-height: 85px; } .portal-right { padding: 10px; margin: 20px 0; min-height: 85px; } .portal-right img { padding-left: 5px; } .portal-left img { padding-right: 5px; } Richard Mitchell: So Alexander and I got a chance to try out the XCOM: Enemy Unknown multiplayer mode at Gamescom. Both of us played single-player before, so we had some idea of what we were getting into – but multiplayer is an entirely different beast. Using a pool of points, players "purchase" the units that will comprise their team: XCOM soldiers, aliens, or a mix of both. The standard match has a pool of 10,000 points and a turn time of 90 seconds. For this press demo, we had a whopping 20,000 points and 120 seconds. It sounds like a lot of time, but it wasn't – more on that in a bit. What units did you pick? (Keep in mind, folks, I had no idea what I was going to face on the field, and neither did Alexander.) Alexander Sliwinski: I believe in the power of humanity! Actually, no, it's mostly that I'd never played an XCOM game prior to the E3 demo, and I had no idea about each race's powers. So, I went with three human soldiers, two Thin Men and then spent a massive 7,300 points on an assault gunner with an alloy cannon. I figured I'd wipe out any alien scum you threw at me.%Gallery-162799%
Get your shinebox and head on down to Rapture with Brentalfloss
Nothing quite says "underwater dystopia" like old-timey ragtime tunes. Brentalfloss clearly understands that relationship, as evidenced by the BioShock-themed music video he created with some colleagues recently. And hey, no casual racism! All the fun of the early 20th century without the awful societal norms!
99 problems for Jay-Z and an executive producer gig for NBA 2K13 is one of them
Shawn "JAY Z" Carter-Knowles will serve as the executive producer of NBA 2K13, 2K Sports announced this morning. Mr. Z will curate the soundtrack and "lend artistic vision" to the world's top (by default for past few years) NBA video game.Jay-Z's selection of 24 songs (including six of his own tracks) for the game's soundtrack can be found after the break. NBA 2K13 will hit the court on October 2.
Take-Two investor call theme: Where's Grand Theft Auto 5?
The first half of Take-Two's question and answer session, during today's first quarter investor call, revolved around the theme of Grand Theft Auto 5 and its current status. Whether directly or indirectly, three questions in a row tried to eke out any details about the game, which appears to be part of the publisher's high revenue projections but still has an official "TBA" release date."Strauss, we've heard nothing, next to nothing, on GTA 5 development over the last couple months," said Mike Hickey of National Alliance Securities. "We've seen a couple screenshots. The game is believed by the street to be implied by your guidance for this fiscal year, but what believability do we have that this game is actually going to come out this year?"CEO Strauss Zelnick responded, "We haven't talked about a release date. So obviously we can't talk about the credibility of a release date that we haven't announced."Pushed further on whether the publisher is receiving consistent updates, the CEO deflected."We wouldn't talk publicly about the way we communicate with our teams internally," replied Zelnick. "We are blessed to be in business with the Rockstar folks and everyone knows that I feel that way. We have the best creative teams in the business across our company."Though the company did announce today that "consumer anticipation is phenomenal" for Borderlands 2, it would still need to hit home runs with NBA 2K13, XCOM: Enemy Unknown and BioShock: Infinite to hit its forecast.
Borderlands 2 third highest pre-ordered game for Take-Two behind Grand Theft Auto
Take-Two announced during its first quarter conference call that Borderlands 2 is doing incredibly well in terms of pre-orders at retail."Consumer anticipation is phenomenal," said Karl Slatoff, chief operating officer of Take-Two about Gearbox's shooter. "Pre-orders are currently the third highest of any title in Take-Two's history, behind only Grand Theft Auto 4 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."For context, Grand Theft Auto 4 made $500 million in its first week, selling 6 million copies, with 3.6 million on its first day.
Take-Two's first quarter of fiscal 2013 is down and out, projections still high
Take-Two's net revenue for the first quarter of fiscal year 2013 clocked in at $226.1 million, down from the previous year's $334.4 million. Take-Two hit a gross profit of $39.4 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared to $123.2 million in the same period last year. The company's GAAP loss was $110.8 million, up from the previous financial period, which saw an $8.6 million loss.Major contributors to Take-Two's finances during the first quarter were Max Payne 3, NBA 2K12, Spec Ops: The Line and catalog sales in the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises. Catalog sales accounted for 26 percent of Take-Two's net revenue, up 50 percent year-over-year. Digital revenue grew 33 percent and accounted for 14 percent of this period's net revenue.Take-Two has adjusted its fiscal year 2013 outlook slightly, expecting $1.7 - $1.8 billion by March 2013, rather than the $1.75 - $1.85 it reported in May. Take-Two still has to launch Borderlands 2, NBA 2K13 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown this fiscal year. This leaves a probable gap of $600 - $700 million in sales, considering the year runaway hit Red Dead Redemption launched Take-Two reported just $1.45 billion in revenue.On a related note, Grand Theft Auto 5 is still categorized as "TBA" for both its platforms and launch date.
Max Payne 3 DLC schedule: 'Local Justice' on PC and free maps in Aug., paid maps in Sept. and Oct.
The next few months' worth of Max Payne 3 DLC content has been given a schedule, albeit a fairly loose one. First up on the docket, though, is some good news for PC gamers: MP3's "Local Justice" DLC pack will finally hit your hard drives on Thursday, August 9. The pack includes three maps and will cost $5.99 for the first week, and then $7.99 after that.Beyond that, more ambiguous windows were give for the next four map packs coming to Rockstar's slow-motion bullet ballet. Also in August, the free "Disorganized Crime" pack will add a "Hoboken Rooftops" multiplayer map, as well as new modifiers for Score Attack mode, including exploding bullets and headshot-only kills.September will see the release of the "Hostage Negotiation" map pack, while October will play host to both the "Painful Memories" and "Deathmatch Made in Heaven" packs. All three packs will cost 800 MSP/$9.99, depending on your platform preference. The previously announced "New York Minute" co-op pack and "Trickle Down Economics" map pack have been cannibalized by the other packs, their content spread out between the three remaining releases.
