Although publisher Take-Two’s main focus for this fiscal year was the release, reception and sales for Red Dead Redemption 2, it was overshadowed by the continued success of Grand Theft Auto V and the NBA 2K series.
That’s not to say Rockstar Games’ latest offering from the Red Dead series was a slouch either. According to Take-Two Interactive’s recently released end-of-the-year results, Red Dead Redemption 2 has since shipped an astounding 24 million units, which is very successful when compared to other AAA offerings. Rockstar Games has recently released its online component, Red Dead Redemption Online, which also added to Take-Two’s net bookings by quarter-over-quarter.
"We're very excited about where Red Dead Online is going," Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz in an exclusive. "It's coming out of Beta this quarter, and we have content drops coming. Our experience has been that momentum always picks up. At this stage at the launch of Grand Theft Auto Online, compared to Red Dead Online, we are well ahead of where we were. It's performing well indeed."
Take-Two also notes that while they did not drop the price for the game, Red Dead Redemption 2 remains a best-seller, selling another million units. The game enjoys critical acclaim as well, sharing a 97 Metacritic score with another one of their titles Grand Theft Auto V.
Overall numbers looked pretty good for Take-Two, with their revenue going up by 49 percent from the previous year, totaling $2.67 billion. The net income also rose by an impressive 92 percent, totaling $333.84 million.
NBA 2K19 was an immense success as well, shipping more than nine million units worldwide, which by now matches the total sales figures achieved by its predecessor NBA 2K18.
The real big winner is, of course, their flagship game Grand Theft Auto V. Take-Two has revealed in the same investors call that Rockstar Games’ title has now sold over 110 million copies to date, which is up by 10 million units from last year. To put that in perspective, a six-year old game has sold eight-digit figures across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and of course the last-gen consoles. Now that is staying power.
