Microtransactions account for nearly half of ‘GTA’ publisher Take-Two’s goddamn revenue
Games as services, bay-bee! Games as fucking transaction machines, bay-bee! Even if you hate both of these models, you better get used to them. ‘Cause they’re the goddamn profit engines for countless gaming companies, such as Take-Two.
Comic Book:
It appears that Take-Two Interactive’s sales are continuing to thrive, based upon the success of content in games like Grand Theft Auto V and its NBA and WWE sports games.
In the report, which can be found here, the company, which operates 2K Games and Rockstar Games, noted that net revenue has seen a dramatic increase, up to $443.6 million for the second quarter of 2017 – up from the $420.2 million reported last year.
In addition, the company made note of recurrent consumer spending being on the rise, with gamers purchasing more virtual currency and add-on content through Microtransactions for Grand Theft Auto V’s online component, as well as NBA 2K17. Despite drawing some criticism from fans, these transactions led to a huge 66 percent year-over-year growth, making up 48 percent of the company’s total net revenue. The largest contributors for the quarter appeared to be Grand Theft Auto Online, NBA 2K17 and the company’s WWE products, including WWE 2K17 and its mobile counterpart, WWE SuperCard. XCOM 2 also played a huge part in sales numbers, too.
As for digital sales, they saw a growth by 31 percent for the second fiscal quarter, up to $302.9 million – a steep rise from last year’s $230.8 million. It generated 68 percent of the company’s total net revenue, with games like Grand Theft Auto Online and NBA 2K17 leading the charge.
“Our positive momentum continued in the second quarter, enabling Take-Two to deliver another period of better-than-expected operating results,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two. “Grand Theft Auto Online delivered its best quarter yet, Net Bookings from Grand Theft Auto V grew year-over-year, and we enjoyed the successful launch of NBA 2K18, which generated growth in both units sold and recurrent consumer spending.”
That’s not to say Grand Theft Auto V didn’t do an amazing job with its sales. It’s now reached 85 million copies sold, beating out the 82 million that Wii Sports sold to become the best selling game in the United States.
So, more than likely, we won’t be seeing Microtranactions going away anytime soon. For that matter, Grand Theft Auto V will continue to see ongoing content to keep its audience happy. But there’s also Red Dead Redemption 2, with its spring 2018 release set to boost Take-Two’s profits even further.