Take-Two Announces “Strong” Results; FY2021 a “Light” New Release Year With More Games From FY2022

Today Take-Two Interactive Software announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2020, related to the period between January 1 and March 31, 2020.

Below you can check out a summary of the company’s performance for the whole fiscal year, which is defined “strong.”

• GAAP Net revenue grew 16% to $3.089 billion
• GAAP Net income increased 21% to $3.54 per diluted share
• GAAP net cash provided by operating activities was $685.7 million
• Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow (Non-GAAP) was $615.4 million
• Net Bookings grew to $2.990 billion

We also read a comment from Chief Executive Officer Strauss Zelnick, mentioning tahgt almost all of the publisher’s games outperformed in the latest quarter and boasting the “strongest development pipeline in history” as usual, incluyding sequels and new IP.

That being said, the current fiscal year will be “light” in new releases, with most new titles coming from the fiscal year 2022 (from April 2022 onward).

“Our significantly better-than-expected fourth quarter results concluded another extraordinary year for Take-Two, during which we achieved numerous milestones, including record Net Bookings of nearly $3 billion, as well as record digitally-delivered Net Bookings, Net Bookings from recurrent consumer spending, and earnings.

Nearly all of our titles outperformed in the fourth quarter, including NBA 2K20, Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Borderlands 3 and Social Point’s mobile games.

Looking ahead, Take-Two has the strongest development pipeline in its history, including sequels from our biggest franchises as well as exciting new IP. While fiscal 2021 will be a light new release year, we expect to deliver strong results, reflecting the diversity and strength of our catalog and live service offerings. We have an array of titles that we will begin to launch in fiscal 2022, which we expect to drive sequential growth that year. Our Company remains superbly positioned – creatively, operationally and financially – to capitalize on the many positive trends in our industry, and to deliver continued growth and returns for our shareholders over the long-term.”

Below you can check out a few highlights from Take-two’s brands.

Rockstar Games:

• Released new free content updates for Grand Theft Auto Online including:
  • Open Wheel Races, which is a new racing mode featuring seven new tracks and a new vehicle class, which includes two brand new Open Wheel vehicles: the Progen PR4 and Ocelot R88.
  • Nine additional new vehicles.
  • New clothing.
• Released new free content updates for Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online including:
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 Photo Mode and Story Mode additions, which were originally available on PlayStation 4, PC and Stadia, and brought to Xbox One, alongside new clothing items and emotes for Red Dead Online players.
  • Game play variations and new maps for the following Showdown Series: Overrun, Spoils of War, Plunder, Up in Smoke and Name Your Weapon.
  • New clothing items.
• Announced numerous critical and commercial achievements across multiple titles, including Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, and a record-breaking holiday season with its two online worlds, GTA Online and Red Dead Online. Records included:
  • Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling game of the past decade in the U.S., based on both unit and dollar sales, according to the NPD Group.
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 was the top title of the last four years based on U.S. dollar sales, according to the NPD Group.
  • Grand Theft Auto Online has had its biggest series of back-to-back updates ever in terms of player numbers, with new records set in December and the quarter ending December 31, 2019, following the release of the Diamond Casino & Resort update in July 2019 and the Diamond Casino Heist in December 2019.
  • Red Dead Online hit a new peak in player numbers in December following the release of the latest update, Moonshiners, and topped those numbers again in January.

2K:

• Announced, together with The National Football League (NFL), a multi-year partnership encompassing multiple future video games. The partnership marks the return of football-themed games to 2K’s stable of notable sports titles and original IP, as well as an expansion of video game properties for the NFL. The games will be non-simulation football game experiences, which will launch starting in calendar year 2021, during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2022.
• Released XCOM: Chimera Squad digitally for PC. XCOM: Chimera Squad is an all-new standalone title in the award-winning, turn-based, XCOM tactical series.
• Launched Guns, Love, and Tentacles: The Marriage of Wainwright & Hammerlock, the second campaign add-on for Borderlands 3, for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Stadia. The four paid campaign add-ons for Borderlands 3 are included with the Borderlands 3 Super Deluxe Edition and Season Pass, or for purchase separately.
• Launched, together with Gearbox Software, Borderlands Science, an interactive game within Borderlands 3 that invites players to map the human gut microbiome to advance vital medical studies while earning in-game rewards. This major initiative is the result of international partnerships with researchers and scientists at McGill University, Massively Multiplayer Online Science (MMOS), and The Microsetta Initiative at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Emmy-nominated Big Bang Theory star and scientist Dr. Mayim Bialik lent her voice to the project, helping guide players on their journey.
• Announced WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a completely new WWE gaming experience that will feature arcade-style action and over-the-top Superstar designs, environments and moves. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is being developed by Saber Interactive, the studio behind NBA 2K Playgrounds, and is scheduled to launch this fall. In conjunction with this announcement, 2K said they are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in fiscal year 2021.
• Announced that 2K Silicon Valley, the label’s wholly-owned development studio founded in February 2019 and led by video game industry veteran Michael Condrey, will officially be known as 31st Union. Along with revealing its new state-of-the-art development facility, branding, core values, and commitment to further establish its identity, the studio also plans to expand its presence internationally, beginning with a European location based in Spain.
• The NBA 2K League started its 2020 regular season on May 5, 2020 with at least six weeks of remote gameplay. All 23 NBA 2K League teams will participate in regular-season gameplay in their local markets from their homes with games simulcast live on the NBA 2K League’s Twitch and YouTube channels.
• Announced the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI – New Frontier Pass that will provide eight new civilizations, nine new leaders, and a variety of new gameplay modes and content for the strategy title from Firaxis Games. The new content will be delivered to consumers via six downloadable packs on a bimonthly basis from May 2020 to March 2021.
• Announced PGA Tour 2K21 from HB Studios is planned for launch on August 21, 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch (digital), PC and Stadia. The game will feature PGA Tour professional Justin Thomas as its cover athlete; officially licensed pro players, courses and gear; the most realistic course scanning to date; play-by-play commentary by Luke Elvy and Rich Beem; a new PGA TOUR Career Mode, online and local multiplayer; course and player customization; and online societies.
• Announced Mafia Trilogy, which combines all three previously released Mafia titles into a single package for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. On May 19, 2020, Mafia II and Mafia III launched as part of the collection, while Mafia I will become available later this summer, as the game is being completely remade, including new technology, new voice acting, new game mechanics, and more.
• Announced BioShock: The Collection, XCOM 2 Collection, and Borderlands Legendary Collection are planned for launch on Nintendo Switch worldwide on May 29, 2020.

Private Division:

• Announced that Kerbal Space Program 2 is being moved to Fall 2021 and will launch on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC due to delays from COVID-19, in order to provide the development team with the time they need to create the best Kerbal Space Program experience possible.
• Announced a partnership with the European Space Agency to launch a new Kerbal Space Program update, entitled Shared Horizons, which is planned to launch on PC on July 1, 2020. The update will also be available later this year on consoles.
• Announced that Disintegration, the debut title from V1 Interactive, the independent studio founded by Marcus Lehto, co-creator of Halo, will release digitally for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on June 16, 2020. Disintegration is a sci-fi, first-person shooter that blends real-time tactical elements to create an entirely new experience.
• Announced that The Outer Worlds, the award-winning title created by renowned RPG developer Obsidian Entertainment, will launch for Nintendo Switch on June 5, 2020. The Outer Worlds is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
• Announced the founding of a new studio located in the greater Seattle area, that is wholly focused on bringing to life the next generation of the Kerbal Space Program franchise. Kerbal Space Program 2 is scheduled to release during Fall 2021 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Below is a look at the upcoming games from the publisher’s brands.

Lastly, we get an overview of how Take-Two responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At Take-Two, our number one priority is the health and safety of our employees and their families. All of our offices moved largely to work-from-home environments by mid-March. We are continuing to find ways to support our employees and their families as we navigate through this unprecedented situation, including services to help families balance work and home life. The digital nature of our content means our creative talent can continue to work on game development from home. The shift to remote working adds complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process; however, based on our work to date, we currently do not expect any delays other than what has been announced.

With more people staying at home, we have experienced, and are continuing to experience, heightened levels of engagement and Net Bookings growth-to-date. The full extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we are not able to predict. The key risks to our business are set forth under the heading “Forward Looking Statements” in this release and will be included in Take-Two’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020.

As previously announced, for the months of April and May, Take-Two’s labels will come together to donate 5% of Net Bookings (after platform fees) from in-game purchases from Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online from Rockstar Games, NBA 2K20 and NBA 2K19 from 2K Games, Dragon City from Social Point, as well as from full-game digital sales of The Outer Worlds from Private Division, to support an array of COVID-19 charities and local businesses in need.”

If you’d like to compare, you can check out the results for the previous quarter, which were published in February.