Highlights
- Net revenue reached $1.53B & net bookings hit $1.39B, despite net losses widening to $34.1M due to a $43.4M project cancellation charge.
- Legacy titles like Grand Theft Auto V topped 230M units sold, while recurrent consumer spending accounted for 84% of total net bookings.
- Take-Two reaffirmed its $8B to $8.2B full-year net bookings forecast ahead of the highly anticipated November launch of GTA 6.
Take-Two Interactive is riding high on the backs of its established giants, even as it trims some incredibly expensive projects. For the first quarter ending June 30, 2026, the publisher behind Rockstar Games and 2K brought in a steady $1.53 billion USD in net revenue, marking a 2% increase from the same period last year. Even more critical for the company's momentum, net bookings hit $1.39B. While that represents a 3% dip year-over-year, it comfortably smashed the top end of the company's $1.32B to $1.37B guidance. Yet, despite these wins, the gaming giant absorbed a massive hit to its bottom line, with net losses widening by an eye-watering 186% to $34.1M compared to last year's $11.9M deficit.
A massive chunk of that widened loss comes from a single, expensive decision: pulling the plug on an unannounced game. Take-Two absorbed a $43.4M impairment charge to cancel a mystery project from a third-party developer. Chief Accounting Officer Hannah Sage confirmed to Gamesindustry.biz, this scrapped game was originally planned as one of three core new IPs for the publisher. With it out of the picture, only the recently rebooted Project ETHOS and Ken Levine's Judas remain as confirmed new franchises in the pipeline.
The reason Take-Two can afford to throw away a major project is the sheer gravity of its legacy titles. Grand Theft Auto V refuses to slow down, officially crossing an astonishing 230M units sold. Meanwhile, NBA 2K6 shattered franchise records by moving 12M units, a 9% jump over last year. Player engagement was up meaningfully during the quarter, fueled by a massive 15% increase in daily active users, a 25% bump in MyCAREER players, and a 35% jump in average games played.
Rockstar Games
Recurrent Consumer Spending
Players are also spending heavily inside these ecosystems. Recurrent consumer spending, which includes microtransactions and virtual currency, accounted for a staggering 84% of total net bookings. While total recurrent spending dipped slightly by 1%, it still beat the company's expectations, balancing strong console growth against a 7% decline in the mobile sector.
Mobile still remains the undisputed king of platforms for the publisher, generating $762.3M compared to console's $640.5M. Zynga heavyweights like Toon Blast, Match Factory!, and Color Block Jam continue to pad the company's war chest, while direct-to-consumer web stores have become a significant driver for improving profit margins.
Looking toward the horizon, the publisher is holding firm on its massive $8B to $8.2B net bookings forecast for the full year. That massive pie is expected to be split primarily between Rockstar Games at 37%, Zynga at 34%, and 2K at 29%. The company described this fiscal year as a milestone chapter that will set a new foundation of scale. All eyes are now on the massive holiday season, kicking off with NBA 2K27 on September 4 and culminating in the November 19 launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Highlighting the incredible anticipation, CEO Strauss Zelnick teased investors during the earnings call, describing early pre-orders for GTA VI as so completely unprecedented that the company doesn't even know how it will translate into final sales figures.
