Take-Two Interactive Software said that Grand Theft Auto VI is still coming out on November 19, 2026.
Now that we have that out of the way, the company also reported strong bookings and earnings for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31.
Net bookings for the quarter were $1.76 billion, above the top end of guidance of $1.6 billion. All of the company’s labels outperformed substantially expectations. Take-Two’s stock is up 4.6% in after-hours trading.
The results reflected better-than-expected performance from NBA 2K, the Grand Theft Auto series, and several mobile titles, including Toon Blast, Empires and Puzzles, and Top Eleven. GTA VI is being closely watched by everyone. It was slated for 2025, delayed to May 26, 2026, and then delayed again to November 19, 2026. That date is sticking so far.
Strauss Zelnick (see our full GB Max interview with Zelnick here), CEO of Take-Two Interactive, said in a statement, “Our outstanding third quarter results reflect outperformance from all of our labels, and we are once again raising our Net Bookings outlook for Fiscal 2026. With ongoing momentum across many of our businesses, and the highly anticipated launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19th, we continue to project record levels of Net Bookings in Fiscal 2027, which we believe will establish a new financial baseline for our business, set us on a path to enhanced profitability, and provide further balance sheet strength and flexibility.”
Recurrent Consumer Spending (RCS) rose 23% for the period, which strongly outperformed the guidance of 8% growth and accounted for 76% of net bookings. NBA 2K grew 30%; Grand Theft Auto Online increased 27%, and mobile increased 19%, all of which exceeded expectations.
During the quarter, Take-Two launched WWE 2K Mobile for Netflix and Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare for several new platforms.
A strong mobile quarter
During the third quarter, the company said it “experienced the fantastic performance” of its mobile business.
In our interview, Zelnick said, “Direct-to-consumer doesn’t affect our top line per se. It really is more a margin issue. However, direct-to-consumer did have the strongest quarter on record, and the regulatory environment is more favorable, so this is a big growth driver for us.”
He added, “But basically, you know, direct-to-consumer means, instead of shopping in one grocery store, you go to a different grocery store. So I don’t really attribute it as a top-line mover.”
And he said, “Our mobile business is up 19% year over year, but that’s really a reflection of the performance of the titles. We feel really great about where ad revenue was going and 2K mobile side being great. We had great results on the 2K mobile side as well. So the story really here is about top-line growth, because those titles are performing and we have new heads, I think we’re kind of unique in that way that we have new hits and the new hits continue to grow.”
Peak’s forever franchise, Toon Blast, grew 43% year-over-year, and surpassed $3 billion in lifetime net bookings – an extraordinary achievement for a title that has been engaging players for more than eight years. The game continues to rank among the most valuable franchises, showcasing the long-term value of the match-three portfolio.
Match Factory, another hit from Peak, grew approximately 17% over last year. The title remains a top contributor two years after its launch, affirming our strategy of building a diverse portfolio of games with vast global appeal.
Color Block Jam remains Rollic’s all-time top-performing title and was featured in Apple’s 2025 Free Games list in the U.S., underscoring the title’s success.
Empires and Puzzles and Words with Friends grew11% and 6%, respectively, over last year.
Advertising revenue grew 10% over last year, driven by higher average revenue per daily active user and the company is highly confident in the future of this component of the business.
2K’s mobile offerings also had another solid quarter, with WWE SuperCard surpassing 38 million lifetime downloads; NBA 2K Mobile continuing to expand itsaudience; NBA 2K26 Arcade Edition holding its top-5 position on the Apple Arcade charts; and NBA 2K All-Star in China growing to nearly 9 million registered users after less than one year in market.
The mobile direct-to-consumer business delivered its strongest quarter on-record. Take-Two introduced recent enhancements that enable more personalized offers, flexible pricing, reduced payment friction, and alternative payment methods. With the regulatory environment becoming even more favorable to the firm (thanks to Epic Games’ antitrust victories against Apple and Google), Take-Two views direct-to-consumer as a meaningful growth driver that will help accelerate net bookings, margins, and profitability.
2K results driven by basketball
NBA 2K26 delivered another stellar quarter, yielding significant upside to our forecast. To date, the title has sold-in eight million units, representing a high single-digit percentage increase over NBA 2K25.
RCS, daily active users and MyCareer daily active users all grew 30% year-over-year. Based onits phenomenal year-to-date performance, NBA 2K is on track to generate the highest level of annual net bookings and RCS in franchise history.
Rockstar Games
The Grand Theft Auto series also vastly outpaced forecasts, with RCS growth of 27%, led by GTA Online’s“A Safehouse in the Hills” update, which featured long-awaited Mansion properties and the return of the fan-favorite protagonist, Michael De Santa.
Full-game sales of Grand Theft Auto V remain strong, with the title having now sold-in over 225 million units since its launch in 2013. GTA+ continues to thrive, with membership levels nearly doubling over the same period last year and the company is excited about its potential to add even more value to the player experience in the future.
In December, Rockstar Games expanded Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare onto new platforms, bringing these classic blockbusters to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and iOS and Android mobile devices for Netflix subscribers.
Outlook for fiscal year 2026
Due to strong results and positive momentum that has continued into the current quarter, Take-Two is once again raising its outlook for the full fiscal year.
Take-Two now expects net bookings to range from $6.65 to $6.7 billion, which represents 18% growth compared to fiscal 2025. At the midpoint, revised net bookings forecast is $725 million, above the initial outlook provided in May 2025.
The largest contributors to net bookings are expected to be NBA 2K,the Grand Theft Auto series, Toon Blast, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, Color Block Jam, Borderlands, the Red Dead Redemption series and Words With Friends.
Take-Two now expect RCS to grow approximately 17% and represent 78% of net bookings. This is up significantly from the prior forecast of 11%, driven by strong momentum across most of the company’s major franchises.
Take-Two’s revised RCS forecast assumes that NBA 2K grows 37%; mobile increases approximately 13%; and Grand Theft Auto Online increases slightly. All of these expectations are raised from the prior forecast.
Take-Two projects the net bookings breakdown from labels to be roughly 46% Zynga, 38% 2K, and 16% Rockstar Games.
Take-Two is raising its operating cash flow forecast to approximately $450 million, which is up from the prior expectation of $250 million, with the increase reflecting the strength in the business. Take-Two remains on track to deploy approximately $180 million in capital expenditures.
The firm is also updating its forecast for GAAP net revenue, which is now expected to range from $6.55 to $6.6 billion, and cost of revenue, which is expected to range from $2.78 to $2.8 billion.
The total operating expenses are now expected to range from $3.96 to $3.97 billion, compared to $7.45 billion last year, which included a $3.6 billion impairment of goodwill and intangible assets.
On a management basis, Take-Two now expects operating expense growth of approximately 8% year-over-year, which is down slightly from the prior forecast, due to a shift of some marketing expenses into next year.
Given the strong net bookings outlook, this assumes meaningful operating expense leverage over last year.
On January 14, 2K and HB Studios announced an array of new content for PGA TOUR 2K25, including three new courses for the 2026 Major Championships: the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, the 126th U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and the 154 Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, with more to come, including new seasons. Additionally, the company looks forward to growing the community with the launch of PGA TOUR 2K25 for Nintendo Switch 2 on Friday.
Firaxis Games will continue to deliver a steady cadence of updates for Sid Meier’s Civilization VII. And, on Thursday, 2K will launch Civilization VII for mobile devices exclusively on Apple Arcade, representing an exciting opportunity to expand the Civilization audience.
On March 13, 2K and Visual Concepts will renew the wrestling franchise with the release of WWE 2K26. Featuring the biggest roster in the series’ history, players will be able to choose from over 400 Legends and current superstars and enjoy new customization options throughout the game. Take-Two plans to support the release with the new Ringside Pass live service model, and a series of add-on packs that can be purchased individually or together as part of the Season Pass.
2K and Gearbox Software will continue to support Borderlands 4 with new content and updates, and we expect the title to achieve strong sell-through over its lifetime.
Zynga will continue to deliver new features and drive innovation across its live services, as well as pursue the development of new titles.
Long-term outlook
The company said it is immensely proud of its teams and their ability to deliver consistently the highest quality and most engaging entertainment experiences.
As it continues to explore and invest in new technologies, particularly AI, Take-Two will unlock greater efficiencies that will allow the talent to focus on the kind of innovation that has enabled it to continually to set new creative and commercial benchmarks in interactive entertainment.
The execution throughout fiscal 2026 has been extraordinary and the company is highly confident as it approaches fiscal 2027 (ending March 31, 2027) – which promises to be groundbreaking for Take-Two and the entire entertainment industry – led by the November 19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI with Rockstar’s launch marketing set to begin this summer.
With ongoing momentum in our business, coupled with the robust forward release schedule, Take-Two continues to project record levels of net bookings in Fiscal 2027, which the firm believes will establish a higher financial baseline, set it on a path to enhanced profitability, and provide further balance sheet strength and flexibility.
Game launch pipeline for fiscal years 26 through 28
The company said it believes strongly in its upcoming launches, and will provide an initial three-year pipeline for fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2029 with Q4 results in May.
Take-Two said its releases include 2K’s Sid Meier’s Civilization VII for Apple Arcade on February 5; PGA Tour 2K25 for Switch 2 on February 6; WWE 2K26 for unannounced platforms on March 13; GTA VI for November 19.
And there are no announced dates for Zynga’s CSR 3 and Top Goal; Ghost Story Games’ Judas; 2K’s Project Ethos; and 2K’s next iteration of BioShock.