Take-Two Interactive sees exciting chapters ahead after Grand Theft Auto V launch

Take-Two Interactive chairperson Strauss Zelnick said his company’s video game business is stronger than ever and that it has many exciting titles coming beyond its highly successful Grand Theft Auto V video game.

At the video game publisher’s annual meeting today, Zelnick said the company’s strategy is to focus on the highest-quality games and that it has a full pipeline of titles coming both for next-generation game consoles and mobile platforms despite a “challenging environment for many in our industry.”

Earlier today, Take-Two announced that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V sold more than $800 million worth of games in its first 24 hours. The results were the highest in the company’s history in the first 24 hours of its release. 

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the launch,” Zelnick said. “Once again, the team at Rockstar Games have outdone themselves.”

Last year, Take-Two grew sales 48 percent and was profitable. Take-Two’s hits for the past year included Max Payne 3, Borderlands 2, BioShock Infinite, NBA 2K13, and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The company also had a number of mobile games, including NBA 2K All-Stars in the Japanese market. The year saw record revenue of digital content. It got rights to the WWE wrestling franchise.

“We are better positioned for success than at any other time in our 20-year history,” Zelnick said. He foresees a new era starting with the new consoles being launched and the rise of mobile games. He foresees the company making money well into the future.

Of course none of the titles released in the last year compares to GTA V, which probably sold more than 13 million copies at $60 each on its first day alone. Zelnick called the GTA V launch “extraordinary.”

Take-Two’s strategy differs from that of Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Ubisoft in one key respect. Rather than publish a version of Grand Theft Auto every year, Take-Two lets its games cook for years and gives the developers more time to get a title done and more time for players to breathe in between launches. That strategy is why it took Rockstar about five years and an estimated $260 million to make Grand Theft Auto V.

In the past, Take-Two had trouble making money during non-GTA years. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

On Oct. 1, Rockstar will release Grand Theft Auto Online that comes free with every copy of Grand Theft Auto V. NBA 2K 14 is coming soon, as is WWE 2K14 and the expansion pack XCOM: Enemy Within. New downloadable content is coming for Borderlands 2 and BioShock Infinite.