GTA VI Publisher Proposes 2024 Will Be A Highly Profitable Year (Wink, Wink)

Grand Theft Auto VIthe next entry in Rockstar Games’ popular open-world franchise, could be out next year based on some big numbers in a new earnings report.

It’s no news that Rockstar Games is working on the next entry in the GTA series. The company confirmed this last year. And then in September 2022 the infamous GTA VI leakage has happened, reveal a lot of details about the game under development. But while we know the game is real, in development, and likely set in Florida, we don’t yet have a release date for the much-hyped sequel to Grand Theft Auto V. However, what we could finally have is a release window thanks to released a new Take-Two earnings report on May 17.

In an accompanying press release of Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, the publisher predicted a massive increase in sales in the upcoming fiscal year 2025, which begins in April 2024. Specifically, it expects more than $8 billion in net bookings. It also expects to continue this “momentum” into its fiscal 2026. Here’s the main part of the press release:

We believe we are entering our next phase of growth in Fiscal 2025 as we plan to deliver several groundbreaking titles that we expect will set new standards of quality and success and enable us to reach more than $8 billion in net bookings and over $1 billion in Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow. We expect to maintain this momentum with additional operational performance growth in fiscal year 2026.

As indicated by IGNThis is a pretty bold prediction for the company’s next two fiscal years, as Take-Two’s net bookings in the last fiscal year were just over $5 billion, which is one of the highest in the company’s history. This was fueled not by some big games doing well, but by Take-Two’s purchase of mobile games giant Zynga, which purchased in 2022 for over $12 billion. Before it owned Zynga, net bookings hovered around $3 billion.

Take-Two expects something big in 2024

So Take-Two must be expecting something very large to be able to break its previous high record, which itself only happened thanks to a historic large acquisition. There aren’t many video game franchises that can make that kind of money more than something like Grand Theft Autoo or more specifically, the highly anticipated sequel to GTA V, one of the best-selling games ever made. Yes, that could be big enough to move the needle to $8 billion or so.

Of course, just to be clear: Nowhere in this press release, the accompanying earnings report, or the conversation with investors after the report was released, did Take-Two specifically say, “Yes, GTA VI coming out in 2024!”

When the company’s CFO, Lainie Goldstein, was asked if the 2025 numbers were based on upcoming game sales or would be earned through legacy titles or microtransactions, she objected, saying the company wasn’t “talking about what the details are.” of which are at the moment”. .”

At another point in the conversation, CEO Strauss Zelnick dodged to give a specific answer about why they predicted such a huge next two years, even if so many games are postponed. In response, the CEO said the company is now “very confident that pipeline will be delivered in the next three years.” Whatever that means!

Kotaku has contacted Take-Two regarding its earnings report.

If it seems like Take-Two Interactive is both trying to convince people that it’s going to be a big year next year while also trying not to say why, it’s because…yeah, that’s exactly what we’re thinking about here the hand. Lots of winking, nudging and smiling, but never saying what seems likely: Grand Theft Auto VI may be out sometime next year.