Take-Two losses climb to $50 million

Take-Two has reported a net loss of USD 50.4 million for the three months ended January 31, 2009, up from the USD 38 million loss for the same period in 2008.

Revenues for the first fiscal quarter were up 7 per cent from USD 240.4 million to USD 256.8 million, but the losses were blamed on high marketing, legal, and research and development expenses.

The company revealed that over 13 million units of Grand Theft Auto IV have been shipped to retail, and the Carnival Games franchise has now shipped over 4 million copies.

"Take-Two led off fiscal 2009 with somewhat better than expected performance," offered Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two. "Our sales reflected the continued strength and diversity of our portfolio of top franchises, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Carnival Games, NBA 2K9 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

"Looking to the balance of the year, the economy remains challenging and uncertain, and our industry will not be immune to this environment," said Zelnick.

"Consumers will continue to be highly selective in their purchases, including interactive entertainment. We need to deliver innovative, exceptionally compelling products to compete for this more limited consumer spending, and we are confident in our ability to do so."

Titles due from Take-Two for the remainder of the fiscal year include BioShock 2, Borderlands, Mafia II and Red Dead Redemption.

A strong line-up of triple-A titles and the rebooted Jack of all Games distribution business put Take-Two in a solid position to take advantage of a wider audience, said Ben Feder, CEO.

"We will continue to focus on our competitive strengths in both of these areas, while also investing in promising emerging markets, and leveraging our leading edge software development tools and technologies.

He added: "We recognise the challenges of balancing efficiency with creativity, and our team believes that we can manage the business effectively without sacrificing our renowned standards for excellence."