Take-Two posts losses of $138 million
Publisher reports full year revenue fall of 37%, despite promising Borderlands sales
Take-Two Interactive has released its financial results for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year with the headline news that the company posted losses of USD 138 million.
That compared with profits in the same period last year of USD 97 million, as overall revenues fell 37 per cent to USD 968 million.
However, the company did see an improvement in revenues for the fourth quarter year-on-year as sales went up from USD 323 million to USD 343 million - although losses for the three months to the end of October increased to USD 22 million, compared to USD 15 million in Q4 2008.
The company has cut its development costs in the past year, which fell from USD 169 million to USD 116 million, and the full year comparisons were expected to be tough given the launch in 2008 of Grand Theft Auto IV - then a new global entertainment record launch (since surpassed by Modern Warfare 2).
Key sellers in the past 12 months include Borderlands, which passed the 2 million units mark and Carnival Games, which sold over 5 million units. Meanwhile the latest DLC for GTA IV - The Ballad of Gay Tony - was released in the last quarter.
In terms of the company's outlook for 2010, guidance pins Q1 at revenue of between USD 210-260, with full year figures expected to hit between USD 1.0-1.2 billion.
Key titles scheduled for release in that period include BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption.