(Reuters) -Take-Two Interactive Software tempered expectations for fiscal 2025 bookings on Thursday, after setting the release of the highly anticipated “Grand Theft Auto VI” in the fall of calendar 2025.
Shares of the New York-based company fell 3.5% in extended trading.
The video game publisher now expects bookings between $5.55 billion and $5.65 billion for 2025, down from its prior forecast of just over $7 billion.
“Looking ahead, we believe that our company is poised to achieve new levels of success, and we expect to deliver sequential growth in net bookings for fiscal 2025, 2026, and 2027,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.
“GTA VI” is the latest entry into the best-selling “Grand Theft Auto” franchise and is expected to be an instant hit with billions of dollars in sales each year according to several analysts.
The company, however, let go of about 5% of its workforce last month and scrapped several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, aligning with similar moves across the gaming industry.
Take-Two’s dour forecast follows disappointing forecasts from Electronic Arts and Roblox last week.
The video-game industry is witnessing a sharp slowdown in bookings this year after steadily recovering from a post-pandemic slump last year, as reduced consumer spending prompts firms to lay off thousands of employees and scale back operations.
Take-Two reported fourth-quarter bookings of $1.35 billion, down 3% from a year ago, but higher than average analysts’ estimate of $1.30 billion, helped by resilient in-game spending on its live service titles like “Grand Theft Auto V” and “WWE 2K24”.
It forecast first-quarter net bookings of $1.20 billion to $1.25 billion, compared with estimates of $1.24 billion.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
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