Take-Two Q2: GTA VI pre-orders above expectations, net bookings dip

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said during the company's second-quarter earnings briefing that Grand Theft Auto VI's launch trajectory is "tracking far above our initial expectations" for pre-order volume. The game was not yet officially out, with about a week to go. Zelnick gave no further detail on what Take-Two expected, and no pre-order numbers were shared.

PlayStation confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI is the most pre-ordered game in the history of the PlayStation store, also without direct numbers. Xbox made a similar claim about its own store. Game Developer notes that some analysts believe the game will sell more than 50 million copies in its first year.

For the quarter ending September 30, 2026, Take-Two reported net bookings of $1.6 billion, 1.2 percent short of its targets, and net revenue of $1.497 billion, slightly above forecasts. Both were down year-over-year. Operating loss widened by roughly $19.5 million, from $98 million a year earlier to $117.5 million.

Zelnick told IGN that a slow start for NBA 2K27 was a factor in the decline, which he attributed to its proximity to Grand Theft Auto VI. Grand Theft Auto V reached 235 million copies sold in the quarter, which puts the full Grand Theft Auto series at 480 million units.

Take-Two's guidance expects net bookings to exceed $8 billion for the full fiscal year. Game Developer's report says GTA VI is likely to lead that. A new BioShock game and Ken Levine's Judas are announced and in development, but nothing on the publisher's release schedule has a date beyond Grand Theft Auto VI.