Nov 9 (Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive projected third-quarter bookings below Wall Street estimates on Monday, stoking concerns around the strength of demand for the videogame publisher’s highly-anticipated title “Grand Theft Auto VI”.
Shares of the company were down about 4% in extended trading, having fallen more than 17% so far this year.
Take-Two is banking on “GTA VI” to be its cash cow for the next few quarters, with analysts expecting a surge in bookings and revenue because of the title, which is set to reach players’ hands on November 19 after some 13 years since its predecessor was released.
The company began taking pre-orders for “GTA VI” in June, ending the long wait that was marred by several delays.
The title has seen about 7.71 million digital pre-orders worldwide as of Nov. 3, according to Sensor Tower data, giving it an estimated gross revenue of more than $750 million.
But the company maintained its annual bookings forecast of between $8 billion and $8.20 billion.
It expects bookings in the current fiscal quarter to be between $3.35 billion and $3.50 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of a near 100% jump to $3.51 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
For the second quarter ended September 30, total bookings fell 18% to $1.60 billion, missing estimates of $1.67 billion.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
