[ad_1]
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Take-Two interactive Shares rose as much as 9.4% in premarket trading on Wednesday, as investors received the first confirmation that the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise is on the way. The company is expected to report its fiscal second-quarter 2024 results after the bell.
In a post Wednesday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rockstar Games president Sam Houser said said “the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto” was scheduled to be released in early December, marking the studio’s 25th anniversary. The title for the next game has not yet been announced, but fans are calling it GTA VI or GTA 6.
Bloomberg said Tuesday evening that the company would officially announce it as early as this week. That could provide more information about when the game will be released.
Take-Two has suggested it could launch in 2024. The company said in May that it will enter its next phase of growth in fiscal 2025, which begins in April 2024, as it plans to “deliver several groundbreaking titles that we expect will set new standards of quality and success and enables us to achieve more than $8 billion in net bookings and more than $1 billion in adjusted, unrestricted operating cash flow.”
GTA V was announced in 2011 and released in 2013. Ten years later, it remains popular.
The game’s current release, “Grand Theft Auto V”, is the second best-selling game of all time, measured by units sold since Microsoftsubsidiary Mojang’s Minecraft. It was developed by Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar. Rockstar’s franchises, including Grand Theft Auto but also Red Dead Redemption, have contributed to the growth of Take-Two’s share price and market capitalization of $23.16 billion.
Earlier this year, the company indicated that 2024 and beyond would be an “important” period for the company. “We continue to believe we are positioning our company for a significant inflection point in fiscal 2025,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a statement at the time.
Investors and consumers alike have been waiting a long time for the release of the next Grand Theft Auto game. GTA V was praised for its graphics and play style, and continues to contribute continued revenue to Take-Two through its online platform to this day.
In August, when the company reported its first-quarter 2024 earnings, total net bookings rose 20% year-over-year to $1.20 billion. The top contributors included Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, according to the company.
Take-Two was not immediately available to add further comment.
Take-Two shares are up nearly 31% year to date.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:
