Take-Two Says GTA 6 Pre-Orders Are ‘Extraordinary’, Then Refuses to Give Us a Single Number

Take-Two has posted its last earnings before GTA 6 lands, and the message is simple: the quarter was a bit of a miss, but don’t worry, the big one is coming. GTA 6 pre-orders are apparently running “far in excess” of what the company expected. Ask how far, though, and you get nothing.

The results dropped after the US market closed on Monday, with the analyst call at 10:30am NZDT on Tuesday (8:30am AEDT). With GTA 6 nine days out, it was always going to be the GTA show, and NBA 2K27 copped the blame for the miss.

The numbers: a miss, mostly thanks to NBA 2K

All figures are in US dollars and cover July to September 2026, Take-Two’s fiscal second quarter.

• Net bookings: US$1.60 billion, down 18% from US$1.96 billion a year ago, and just under Take-Two’s own forecast of US$1.62 billion to US$1.67 billion.
• Recurrent spending: in-game purchases, add-ons and the like fell 9%, worse than the 5% drop Take-Two had forecast, but still made up 81% of net bookings.
• Revenue and loss: GAAP net revenue was US$1.50 billion, with a net loss of US$54 million. That’s a smaller loss than a year ago, and better than Take-Two’s own guidance.
• NBA 2K27: sold more than 4 million copies and is the second-best NBA 2K launch ever, but still came in under forecast. Zelnick told IGN he thinks GTA 6 coming has had an influence on players.
• Old faithfuls: GTA V has now sold nearly 235 million copies, and the Borderlands series has passed 100 million.
• The share price: according to Investing.com, Take-Two closed Monday’s US trading down 3.48% at US$207.40, then rose 3.75% after hours to US$215.17 once everyone remembered GTA 6 exists.

GTA 6: big words, zero numbers

Take-Two’s statement says pre-orders are “continuing to reach unprecedented levels”. On the call, CFO Lainie Goldstein called them “extraordinary”, and Zelnick told Variety presales are “running far in excess of our expectations”.

• The full-year forecast: unchanged at US$8.0 billion to US$8.2 billion in net bookings, despite all that pre-order bragging.
• Why not raise it? Zelnick told analysts Take-Two tends “to avoid claiming success before it occurs” and will talk numbers once it has some post-launch data.
• The launch quarter: Take-Two expects US$3.35 billion to US$3.5 billion in net bookings for October to December, up from US$1.76 billion a year earlier. That’s roughly US$1.6 billion to US$1.7 billion more, by our maths, with GTA 6 the obvious reason.
• Ultimate Edition money: Goldstein confirmed the add-on content in GTA 6’s Ultimate Edition is counted as recurrent spending, because you can also buy it separately.
• The price: Variety lists US$79.99 for the Standard Edition and US$99.99 for the Ultimate Edition. Locally it’s been reported at NZ$139.95 and NZ$174.95, as we covered when the launch trailer dropped.

Zelnick on delays, budgets, piracy and PC

• Another delay? IGN’s Wesley Yin-Poole asked. “It’s not going to be delayed again,” Zelnick said. On the call he added that Rockstar has finished developing the game.
• The budget: an analyst raised a recent Bloomberg interview in which a Rockstar executive said GTA 6 cost no more than US$1.5 billion to make. Zelnick said Take-Two hasn’t talked budgets, and that “not more than something” doesn’t mean it’s close to that number.
• AI and piracy: asked about AI-assisted reverse engineering, Zelnick said it “is going to become more of a challenge” and Take-Two is beefing up its technical and legal defences. He also told IGN it seems “ironic” for AI companies to trample other people’s IP while hoping theirs stays protected.
• PC and Switch 2: no news. Zelnick told Variety that information “always comes from our labels”, meaning Rockstar.
• GTA Online: Take-Two says Rockstar will keep supporting it with new content after GTA 6 launches.
• Launch day downloads: Zelnick told IGN the company is “very focused” on a smooth launch, which is why the 212GB preload started early. Kiwis got that preload first.

Meanwhile, Rockstar’s union vote starts this week

The other GTA story Take-Two didn’t want to talk about is the Rockstar Games Workers Union. SAG-AFTRA put out a statement on Monday backing the union, and GamesBeat reports its vote runs from 12 to 26 November.

Zelnick declined to comment on it when Variety asked. The vote runs right through launch week.

Our take

Take-Two telling Wall Street pre-orders are “extraordinary” while refusing to raise its forecast is the corporate version of a mate saying he’s “doing alright” while parking a new Ranger in your driveway. Nobody believes the modesty. They’re sandbagging so the launch-week number lands like a bomb.

Fair play on the one bit that matters, though. It’s finished, it’s not being delayed again, and NZ gets it first at midnight on 19 November, as we laid out here. The rest is earnings-call chest-thumping, plus NBA 2K27 getting blamed for being released in the same year as GTA 6.

Reckon GTA 6 beats every launch record on day one, or is the hype writing cheques Vice City can’t cash? Come argue about it in the GetRekt Discord. Everything else GTA 6 lives on our Grand Theft Auto VI page.

Sources

• Take-Two: Results for Fiscal Second Quarter 2027 (press release)
• Take-Two: Q2 fiscal 2027 prepared remarks
• Stock Analysis: Take-Two Q2 2027 earnings call transcript
• IGN: Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick on GTA 6 expectations, GTA Online and the decade to come
• Variety: GTA 6 presales far in excess of expectations, Take-Two CEO says
• GamesBeat: All the takeaways about GTA VI from the Take-Two earnings call
• Investing.com: Take-Two Q2 FY2027 slides: mixed results, GTA VI pre-orders soar
• Investor’s Business Daily: Take-Two gives restrained outlook before GTA 6
• GamesBeat: SAG-AFTRA applauds Rockstar Games workers union recognition vote