These companies are starting to realize the very real risks that AI poses, both legally and “reputationally.”

“Grand Theft Auto” publisher Take-Two Interactive is planning to sell off $1 billion of its common stock. In addition to the public offering, which was announced Tuesday, the video game giant will give underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $150 million of shares. The offering is subject to market conditions. Per the company, “Take-Two intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of outstanding debt and future acquisitions.” Related Stories Take-Two, which is the parent company to Rockstar Games, 2K and Zynga, saw its shares drop nearly 3% in after-hours trading Tuesday upon news of the stock sale. Popular on Variety The public offering announcement comes less than a week out from Take-Two reporting its latest earnings results, which included a writedown of more than $3 billion. That was on the heels of the publisher revealing on May 2 that its highly anticipated Rockstar Games-developed “Grand Theft Auto 6” would be shifting from a planned fall 2025 release to a May 26, 2026 launch. Speaking with Variety last week about the earnings results and anticipation for the company’s fiscal 2026 (which runs April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026), Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick said “obviously, the net bookings that are expected for Fiscal ’26 are lower without the release of ‘GTA 6,’ that goes without saying,” adding: “But we haven’t actually parsed what the specific effect is, although analysts have speculated.” “I think the key point to bear in mind is, once again, we’re setting a record, which is what we said we would do,” Zelnick said. “We certainly expect growth in Fiscal ’27. This company is in extraordinarily sound shape and well positioned both for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

The delay of Grand Theft Auto VI into 2026 left a gaping hole in Take-Two's release slate for the fiscal year—one so large you'd be forgiven for worrying if a torrent of money flowed out of it in the wrong direction.But if you're an investor nursing that concern—worry not, at least according to Take-Two. The company stated in its annual financial report for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2025 that it's still projecting about 5 percent growth in revenue and net bookings (consumer spending on digital goods) for the year ahead.That follows a similar trend from its financial results for this year, where net bookings rose 6 percent from $5.33 billion to $5.65 billion, and net revenue topped out at $5.63 billion, a 5 percent jump from $5.35 billion the prior fiscal year. The old standbys like Grand Theft Auto V, the NBA 2K series, and Grand Theft Auto Online were the biggest contributors here, with Firaxis' Sid Meier's Civilization VII getting a tip of the cap for helping driving up revenue.If all goes according to plan, games like Borderlands 4, Mafia: The Old Country, and the 2026 iterations of NBA 2K and WWE 2k will see the company rake in about $6 billion in revenue and net bookings by this time next year. CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a Q&A call with investors that this will be "the new baseline" for the company.Related:Of course since Grand Theft Auto VI will release on May 26, 2025, those numbers will be small potatoes compared to what the company wants to see in fiscal year 2027.In theory, delaying Grand Theft Auto VI was key for Take-Two's long-term healthIt's not just Grand Theft Auto Online still delivering the financial goods for Take-Two in 2025, it's also Grand Theft Auto V, a game that first released on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2013. That partly explains why Zelnick told VentureBeat that it gave Rockstar Games extra time to finish the game in order to "deliver this groundbreaking project at the level that its fans demand." These days, few premium games can be the financial foundation for a public company without some kind of sequel or spinoff.Also playing a role in the future of Take-Two's financials will be the Nintendo Switch 2, on which the company is preparing to release ports of Civilization VII and Borderlands 4 (no release date is listed for this version of the beloved looter shooter, implying it may not launch on September 12, 2025 with other versions of the game).Civilization VII will be a strong case study for the Switch 2's impressive mouselike controls that are the main hardware advancement for the Nintendo Switch product line. Borderlands 4's performance on the Switch 2 will also be worth watching, as the game is a natural fit for the online social platform GameChat.Related:

Take Two has recently released its 2025 investor presentation, and as you can imagine it's filled with all manner of interesting details about the publisher's suite of games. For Borderlands fans, it contains some intriguing sales info, including the eye-watering fact that the Borderlands series has sold nearly 93 million copies in total. Read more

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here The release date for the Nintendo Switch 2 is only a few weeks away. The system is scheduled to launch on June 5th, and it is predicted to be the biggest console launch in history. While excellent first-party games for Nintendo have never been a problem, this time there is a bigger emphasis on support for third-party games, too. One of the biggest publishers set to support the new console is Take-Two Interactive, and, in a recent interview, the Take-Two CEO has said he feels “really good” about the Switch 2, but “it always remains to be seen” what happens. Take-Two CEO feels “really good” about third-party support on Nintendo Switch 2 Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnick, conducted a recent interview with The Game Business. The interview discussed a range of topics from the recent delay of GTA 6 to US tariffs and the increasing price of video games. The CEO also discussed the upcoming launch of the Nintendo Switch 2. Asked about his expectations for the Nintendo Switch 2 and how he is feeling about the handheld, Strauss said Take-Two “feel really good about it. But it always remains to be seen”. The CEO said that Take-Two Interactive are “offering more on launch support than ever before for a Nintendo platform” as they have “announced four titles for Switch 2”. The Take-Two Interactive games announced for the Switch 2 so far include Borderlands 4 as well as future installments of the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series. It’ll be interesting to see how these perform as WWE 2K18 was infamously horrible on the original Nintendo Switch, stopping support for the series right after.  There are also now rumors of Red Dead Redemption 2 heading to Switch 2 sometime in 2025, but this has not been announced and is thus not official. Discussing how third-party games often find it harder to succeed on Nintendo platforms, Zelnick admitted “That is true. Historically, Nintendo has done a better and more supportive job with first-party titles”. However, Zelnick believes Nintendo “are aiming to change that,” and Take-Two Interactive “have basically risen to the challenge and opportunity”. Lastly, the CEO said, “We voted with our feet. Nintendo has asked us to be supportive, and we do believe we’re doing that. Now we will see what happens”. In other Nintendo Switch 2 news, the platform has been praised as super “easy” to develop for, and Nintendo underestimated just how massive the demand would be. Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here GTA 6 is the most anticipated experience of all time, let alone just video game. It was touted for a Fall 2025 release, but it unfortunately got delayed to May 26th, 2026. While Rockstar understands the disappointment of everyone, the Take-Two Interactive CEO has reassured fans worried about another GTA 6 delay with the statement that when Rockstar “set a specific date, that ends up being the date”. Take-Two CEO reassures fans worried about another GTA 6 delay There is understandable concern that another GTA 6 delay could happen. Recently, for Bloomberg, Jason Schreier covered that not only are players worried about the prospect of another delay, but so too are fellow developers and studios as they obviously want to give the new Grand Theft Auto as much of a wide berth as possible at launch so they don’t end up being a casualty of its unprecedented success. While there is always the possibility another delay could happen, Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnick, has suggested it won’t. Asked by The Game Business in a recent interview whyit was important to set a full release date for GTA 6 so far in advance, Zelnick responded, “Generally, when we set a specific date, that ends up being the date”. The CEO added, “we thought it was important to reassure people that it is coming, and picking a specific date emphasises that point. Asked whether Take-Two or Rockstar were “conscious of the wider industry needing some clarity around” the release date, Zelnick said, “I love that there’s that speculation going on. It’s flattering,” but “No-one has sent me any flowers”. The last question about GTA 6 was whether Zelnick is comfortable with how long it’s been since the last fully original Rockstar game. To this, Zelnick said “back in the good old days, or the bad old days depending how you look at it. We would work on a title, release the title, hope for the best, and then make another title. Now we have the opportunity for consumers to engage on an on-going basis with our hits”. Zelnick pointed out that, “In the case of Grand Theft Auto, we have Grand Theft Auto Online, and Rockstar has been supplying content to Grand Theft Auto Online, some of which is so robust that if you go back 15 years, it would have counted as a standalone title. One could really argue that Rockstar has been putting out a new Grand Theft Auto release a couple of times a year”. Whether you agree or disagree with Zelnick’s comments about GTA Online, the reassurance about the GTA 6 release date is good news for now. It’s still possible a delay could happen, but it’s good to hear that a specific date has been labelled because Rockstar and Take-Two are both confident. In other GTA 6 news, check out our guides to all the characters confirmed for the game so far, along with all the locations you will be able to explore as part of the huge open-world. Related Topics GTA 6 Subscribe to our newsletters! By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime. Share

Take-Two's Strauss Zelnick on game prices, Civilization 7's launch and Switch 2 "This is our broadest, most robust support ever for a Nintendo launch, so clearly we believe" Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on May 16, 2025 Following an FY25 that landed at the upper end of guidance, Take-Two Interactive has entered FY26 with GTA 6 having shifted out of it. Take-Two CEO and chairman Strauss Zelnick caught up with GamesIndustry.biz on the year ahead, including game pricing, Borderlands 4, and Civilization 7's post-launch. The interview below has been edited for brevity and clarity. 2K has a number of Switch 2 ports on the way. What do you see as the opportunity with that console for both new releases and catalogue titles? We feel very good about it. We're supporting Nintendo's Switch 2 at launch with four titles. This is our broadest, most robust support ever for a Nintendo launch, so clearly we believe. What was the strategy behind announcing the GTA 6 release date as early as you did? Our labels will typically announce dates when they believe that's the date they're going to deliver the product, and it meets within a marketing window, [so] all the stars essentially align. But that's always resided with our labels. Civilization 7 got a mixed community response at launch, but the results note that updates are ongoing and a long sales cycle is expected, as with previous entries. Can you talk about how you see the journey of that game playing out? I think you actually captured it pretty well. We definitely had some challenges at launch. Every time we've come out with a new platform iteration of Civilization, there's been some consternation on the part of consumers who love the franchise and are beholden to its prior iteration. Then, we will occasionally do updates, make changes, address concerns, and the sales cycle ends up being very long, and people – once again – fall in love with it. I see that happening right now. We've addressed some of the initial changes, we probably have a bit more work to do, but sales are strong and we're really happy with how it's going – and I think in the fullness of time, it'll be just great. I was wondering if you could talk about game pricing and the decision to make Mafia: The Old Country a $50 product. What was the strategy there, and what are your thoughts about where pricing is at more generally? We've always had variable pricing here, and our job as an entertainment [company] seeking to bring the biggest and best hits to all consumers around the world is always to deliver more value than what we charge. Always. We think Mafia: The Old Country is absolutely extraordinary – it looks just great. We wanted to get it into as many hands as possible. This was one way to do it. Our job is not to turn a consumer upside down, shake them, and see how much change comes out of their pockets. Our job is to create the very best entertainment. If we do that, the revenue will take care of itself. Image credit: Take-Two Interactive What about the upper end of premium game pricing? Obviously we've seen Nintendo and Xbox increase pricing on their side – what do you make of the response to that, and where do you see Take-Two going with future premium game pricing? Look, undoubtedly on a real basis, that is to say adjusted for inflation, topline pricing has been coming down for years. Probably two decades. Which is to say, on an inflation-adjusted basis, every year topline pricing has been further and further discounted. Consumers look at their entertainment through a lens of, 'how much time am I going to spend with this, and how much am I going to like it?' The more time they spend, and the more they're going to like it, the more value is being delivered to those consumers. Again, our job is to maximise the value being delivered, and then offer that value at a meaningfully reduced cost, so that the experience of consumption is optimised across both how it feels when you're actually playing our games, as well as how it feels when you're paying your credit card bill. That's our job. I do think that the value that is offered is massive and growing, and that is our job. Borderlands 4 has huge Steam wishlist numbers. What's kept that franchise so evergreen over almost two decades now? Randy Pitchford and the team at Gearbox do amazing work. It is a phenomenal property, and I think the most recent trailer shows that no matter what you think, Gearbox has always been a step ahead of you. They capture that tone. They're not slavishly devoted to what came before. What came before informs what they do, and then they [ask], 'how do we take this to the next level?' Or the next planet, as the case may be. It was a great year for Zynga. What's the key to that level of performance in such a competitive market? I'm so proud of what the team at Zynga has been able to accomplish, because really, Zynga is the only mobile company out there that's generating multiple new hits in the marketplace. We have Match Factory, which is now profitable, we have Color Block Jam which has been enormously successful in a short period of time. Toon Blast, which is a legacy title that's booming. We have Empires & Puzzles which is a huge title that's stabilised, and is now poised for growth. What's special? Honestly? Take-Two aims to have among our colleagues the very most talented people in the business, on the creative side, and on the executive side. It's self-serving, but I believe that's the case. Match Factory comes to us from Peak, Color Block Jam comes to us from Rollic. These studios are phenomenal, led by phenomenally talented people. In the results, you mentioned the massive success of GTA 6's second trailer. In the short term, what kind of effect has that had on the existing Rockstar catalogue of titles? In the quarter we just announced, GTA Online and Red Dead Online both did better than expectations. As for the trailer, it generated 475 million views in the first 24 hours, setting a record. So I think we're in a pretty good place. What's exciting you about the year ahead? We have a great release schedule coming up, I'm really looking forward to Mafia: The Old Country, Borderlands 4, both of which we've discussed. We've a lot of other great releases coming, of course our annualised titles WWE and NBA. Across the board, there's a lot of very exciting titles coming. We have our live-ops titles we just discussed. Zynga has new releases coming. It's always hard to say what a mobile title will do, but I feel really good about a number of those titles. And we have our catalogue. This company has the opportunity to perform all of its various divisions, all of its various business channels, and our recent results reflect the fact that we're doing so.

During a recent earnings call (courtesy of IGN), Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said that he was “reasonably sure” that the company wouldn’t be affected by the US tariffs on imported goods. He attributed this to the fact that there has been quite a bit of confusion owing to the tariffs being issued and then withdrawn. Despite this confusion, however, he said that the fiscal guidance for Take-Two Interactive has been decided for the coming year. He also noted that, despite the tariffs, Take-Two already has a solid base of customers on all platforms except for the Nintendo Switch 2, which is slated for launch on June 5. Taking this into account, the company will likely not be affected by any changes to tariffs, according to Zelnick. “Our guide is for the next ten months, essentially, that’s the part of the fiscal year that hasn’t elapsed yet, and it’s very difficult to predict where tariffs will land, given how things have bumped around so far,” said Zelnick when asked about the tariffs. “We feel reasonably confident that our guide wouldn’t be meaningfully affected, unless tariffs ran off in a very different direction than we currently expect. In any case, there’s already a very substantial install base for all of our target platforms except Nintendo Switch 2, which is pre-launch. So we have, I think, enough insight that we wouldn’t be affected by any changes.” In its earnings report, the company has reaffirmed that it will be releasing a host of games on different platforms, such as Borderlands 4 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2, and Mafia: The Old Country on PC and current consoles. There are also games that are slated for release that don’t have confirmed platforms yet, including NBA 2K26 and WWE 2K26. With this in mind, it can be easy to see why Zelnick isn’t too concerned about the tariffs affecting the publisher. Leading up to the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Zelnick said that he was feeling “great optimism” about Take-Two’s relationship with Nintendo. In the same earnings call, Zelnick mentioned how well Nintendo has been supporting third-party publishers to ensure that the Switch 2 has a strong line-up of games. “We’re launching four titles with Nintendo Switch 2, and that’s I think a bigger array of releases than we’ve ever offered before with a new Nintendo platform,” said Zelnick. “Historically, being a third party in the Nintendo business has been a bit challenging. I think Nintendo has been very forthcoming in addressing that. And we’re stepping up too, because we have great optimism for the platform.” In an interview with IGN right before the earnings call, Zelnick also spoke about how the decision to push the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 back from Fall 2025 to May 26, 2026 pained him, but that it will ultimately be worth it to give developer Rockstar Games more time to work on the game. “I feel really good about how fiscal 26 looks sitting here today,” he said. “And while of course, delays pain me — how could they not? — the most important thing to do is to support your teams in their search for perfection.”

Grand Theft Auto VI has been one of the video game industry's most anticipated games for at least half the dozen years since Grand Theft Auto V first released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Rockstar has obviously had its next mainline entry on its mind for (at least) all 12 years since GTA V, but according to Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick, development on GTA VI only began "in earnest" in 2020. In Zelnick's opening statement for Take-Two's latest earnings report for the fourth quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, he reveals that "Grand Theft Auto VI began development in earnest in 2020 following the massive success of Red Dead Redemption 2," before going on to discuss how highly anticipated the game is and that the new trailer broke records again. During the Q/A portion of today's presentation, while talking about the trailer's traffic in response to a question, he said that Rockstar "broke the internet, again." Which is no surprise when you look at that trailer. It was incredibly impressive, and the fact that it took Rockstar six years of focused production time to achieve what we've seen so far is a testament to just how incredibly talented the developers and designers at Rockstar are. Six years isn't the total development time, though, as Zelnick's specification that work began "in earnest" in 2020 implies that pre-production and earlier stages work was going on prior. It's even possible that people at Rockstar moved to work on Grand Theft Auto VI days after Red Dead Redemption 2 launched, putting a more total estimate for GTA VI's development time at eight years, at least. With at least eight years of development behind it, and nearly 13 years of waiting (if it hits May 2026) for GTA fans, expectations for GTA VI feel higher than they've been for any game. Its closest comparison, you could argue, was Cyberpunk 2077, which is a release we'll all never forget for very negative reasons. Let's hope for a different outcome this time. Deal of the Day