Take-Two CEO Says Publisher Is in 'Growth Mode' in Wake of GTA 6 Announcement

ign.com:

After wave after wave of mass layoffs impacted almost every major games company in the last several months, the Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says he feels confident that the publisher is on the other side of what's been a highly fraught year for the industry.

Speaking to IGN alongside its quarterly financials, Zelnick says that its cost-cutting measures undertaken earlier this year exceeded the publisher's targets, and that "we feel good about how we're structured now."

Notably, some of that cost-cutting includes the layoffs at the Private Division label and other company divisions made back in March, though specific numbers were neither given nor reported. However, Zelnick claims that Take-Two has weathered the worst of a post-pandemic slump, and is prepared for a surge of growth in the coming years.

"We've already gotten through the right-sizing we felt we needed to do, and we expect to be in growth mode going forward," he said.

Zelnick's optimism is largely backed by the company's numbers. Take-Two saw total net bookings of $1.44 billion in the last quarter, down 4% year-over-year thanks to a slight dip in recurrent spending, but well-within expectations. Grand Theft Auto 5 sold another five million copies in the quarter, bringing it to a total of 190 million units sold over its lifetime. Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 57 million total units, and NBA 2K24 got off to a solid start with 4.5 million units sold — not quite matching NBA 2K23's five million in the same period, but not far off.

But what's really driving expectations for a gangbuster Take-Two year to come is, of course, GTA 6. The publisher has been teasing a "highly anticipated year" in fiscal 2025 (beginning April of 2024) since this past May.

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