Spec Ops, Max Payne 3 underperform for Take-Two

Take-Two Interactive's two biggest hopes for the three months ending June 30, Max Payne 3 and Spec Ops: The Line, both sold fewer copies than the company anticipated, CEO Strauss Zelnick said Tuesday. The underperformance of these games was the primary driver of the company's $110.8 million loss for the quarter, on revenues of $226.1 million. This fell below Wall Street analyst expectations, which averaged around $255 million. "As a hit-driven entertainment company, not every title we produce will meet our sales targets," Zelnick told investors in a Gamasutra-attended conference call. Additionally, the company says that $15 million of the loss was due to "a one-time contractual obligation of $15 million," though the company did not specify the nature of this contract. Upcoming high-profile releases for the company include BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, Xcom: Enemy Unknown and NBA 2K13. The company is also putting particular focus on its digital offerings, the revenues from which saw a 33 percent rise during the period.