John-ShepardSquare-Enix may not have a happy New Year, but Take-Two will.
Now that the publisher has branched out, they're capable of turning a profit during years when they don't release a Grand Theft Auto . …of course, it helps when you release a blockbuster that can essentially be labeled GTA in the wild west. Take-Two's financinal earnings for the current fiscal year look good; they've reported a 65% rise in revenue to $1.16 billion, with a profit of $49.7 million. This is in stark contrast to the $130 million loss it posted during last year's fiscal year and the company can thank Red Dead Redemption , which has shipped nearly 8 million copies since its launch this past May. Said CEO Ben Feder:
"We have achieved our goal of profitability in a year without a new release of Grand Theft Auto. Our better-than-expected revenue growth and margin expansion were driven by strong demand for our diverse portfolio of games, including the hit new titles Red Dead Redemption and NBA 2K11, as well as strong sales of catalog titles and digitally delivered content. I am also pleased to report that our 2K Sports division was profitable during the period."
It also helped that the stellar NBA 2K11 did exceedingly well (3 million units shipped worldwide), partly due to EA's cancellation of NBA Elite 11 . It may be a little bizarre that we're taking fiscal year results at this time of year, but Take-Two will shift the end point of their financial year: it's going from October 30 to the more common March 31. As for the future, we expect to see Top Spin 4 (yay for me!) and MLB 2K11 , as well as L.A. Noire and – wait for it – Duke Nukem Forever .
Yeah, this is one publisher that seems headed in the right direction.
Related Game(s): Red Dead Redemption