GTA speculation intensifies after Take-Two teases "groundbreaking" titles

Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive intends to launch "several groundbreaking titles" during the 2025 fiscal year that it believes will help it deliver over $8 billion in net bookings.

The company made those remarks during a recent conference call, and it's a tidbit that has some wondering if that means the next iteration of Grand Theft Auto-viewed by many as Take-Two's most prized asset–will launch during that period.

"Fiscal 2025 (March 2024 to March 2025) is a highly anticipated year for our company. For the last several years, we have been preparing our business to release an incredibly robust pipeline of projects that we believe will take our company to even greater levels of success," said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

"In Fiscal 2025, we expect to enter this new era by launching several groundbreaking titles that we believe will set new standards in our industry and enable us to achieve over $8 billion in Net Bookings and over $1 billion in Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow. We expect to sustain this momentum by delivering even higher levels of operating results in Fiscal 2026 and beyond."

It's been almost a decade since Grand Theft Auto V hit shelves, with the title launching on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 back in September 2013. Since then, it has been ported across two more console generations and bolstered with support for GTA Online–which has been made available as  a standalone download.

A sequel over a decade in the making

Despite entering its golden years, GTA V remains incredibly lucrative. According to Take-Two's fiscal report for the year ended March 31, 2023, the company saw net bookings increase by 55 percent year-on-year to $5.28 billion, with Grand Theft Auto Online and GTA V being highlighted as two of the "largest contributors" over the year.

So far, Grand Theft Auto V has sold over 180 million units worldwide, and continues to see audience growth across the latest generation off platforms. "For the first three weeks of Grand Theft Auto Online's Holiday update, PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X | S consoles grew to 14 percent of its audience penetration and 25 percent of its revenue penetration, up from 11 percent and 20 percent respectively, versus last summer’s content update for the comparable period," added Zelnick.

Engagement across franchises like Grand Theft Auto and others titles including NBA 2K23, Red Dead Redemption 2, Empires & Puzzles, and Words with Friends saw net bookings from recurrent consumer spending grow by 88 percent year-on-year, accounting for 77 percent of Take-Two's total net bookings for the year.

Looking to the more immediate future, Take-Two expects to achieve net bookings ranging between $5.45 billion to $5.55 billion during the current fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, and will ship 16 titles over that period–including three "immersive core offerings." It noted that forecast "reflects the challenging consumer backdrop, as well as an extension of the development timelines for several high-profile, long-awaited titles in our pipeline."

Again referencing its plans for Fiscal 2025, however, the company said that "after numerous years of investment and creative development, we are excited about this next chapter for Take-Two."

"As we execute on our strategy and release what we expect will be an array of hit titles, we believe that we will grow our scale and margins, generating industry-leading returns for our shareholders," it added.