Take-Two Interactive, the brand behind such popular gaming titles such as the 2K franchise, has officially released their financial results for their third fiscal quarter which ended on December 31st, 2023.

The data demonstrates that the company did beat their guidance and also reported their smallest quarterly net loss since their acquisition of Zynga back in May 2022, but they also reported a decline in sales and bookings.

Here is a breakdown, courtesy of GamesIndustry.biz.

• Net revenue: $1.37 billion (down 3% year-over-year)
• Net loss: $91.6 million (compared to $153 million in the year-ago quarter)
• Total net bookings: $1.34 billion (down 3% year-over-year%)

Grand Theft Auto 5 and Online, Red Dead Redemption, and Zynga’s lineup performed well during Q3 and exceeded the company’s expectations, but NBA 2K reported  “softness” in NBA 2K24 sales. NBA 2K24 has sold around 7 million, while NBA 2K23 sold around 8 million, a stark dip in sales and recurrent customer spending.

“Remember, this is still a very good news story,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said during a call with GamesIndustry.biz.  “This is the number one-selling sports title in North America, obviously the number one basketball title. We’ve sold-in over 7 million units, and in the fullness of time, NBA 2k24 will generate net bookings in line with NBA2K23. So this is largely a timing matter.”

Zelnick also spoke on the challenges of launches new titles within the mobile market in recent years, and he does see a change in that trend of late.

“I do think it’s been changing of late,” Zelnick said. “Outside of our business, [2023 new release] Monopoly Go is a very significant hit. And inside of our company, we have two significant hits: Match Factory which is doing really, really well, and Top Troops, which is doing extraordinarily well also. And then we have some other titles in-market bubbling up that are looking super-promising.

“I do think it’s a reflection of the consumer rebounding. As you know, in 2022 mobile had its first down year ever, and it’s been recovering ever since. So I’m very encouraged that staying the course and being willing to invest in what we believe is the highest quality mobile interactive entertainment is beginning to pay off.”

Take-Two is carrying out another “cost reduction plan”, but it is unclear how many people may be laid off in the current one, but did warn that the current plan is expected to be “more robust” than the last one.

“After ten years of unbridled industry growth and plenty of company growth, we think it’s time to become really efficient at everything we do, especially in advance of this extraordinary pipeline,” Zelnick said. “We want to make sure we can avail ourselves of the maximum operating leverage possible.

“And remember, our cost profile isn’t just about headcount. Our biggest line-item expense is marketing, actually. So optimizing marketing would be a terrific way to make sure the company gets more efficient.”

First Contact Entertainment has officially announced that it will be shutting down, per an official statement issued by the company on social media.

Per the announcement: “As an AAA VR game developer, we are just not able to justify the expense needed going forward,” the studio said. “[We] are extremely proud of the team and grateful to our investors, our partners, and of course our community of dedicated and passionate players.”

First Contact launched Firewall Ultra for PlayStation VR2 back in August, which was a follow up to 2018’s Firewall Zero Hour. Additionally, it was announced earlier this year that they were working on a VR multiplayer first-person shooter titled Solaris: Offworld Combat 2, according to Gematsu.

The Los Angeles company was founded back in 2016 and some of their games generates some buzz on each video game streaming platform.

FromSoftware title ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’, which is published by Bandai Namco, has laid claim to the top spot of the boxed charts in the United Kingdom this week following it’s August 25th release.

Armored Core 6’s debut pushed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the second overall spot in news that video game journalists have been covering extensively.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Bandai Namco believes that ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’ is a “big step up in the franchise’ and communicated their hopes that it would surpass previous Armored Core games following the increased popularity in the game developers work on Elden Ring.

The United Kingdom charts also saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom move back to the 3rd spot, and FIFA 23 holding the 4th spot.

The biggest rise was from Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which jumped back in the top top from it’s previous 24th spot to land in 6th with a 146% increase in sales. That game, along with Hogwarts Legacy, is currently a part of a Playstation 5 bundle.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition entered the Top Ten this week with an appearance in the 9th spot.

The news wasn’t so good for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which saw a debut in the 13th spot last week but has now dropped to 37th following a 43% decrease in sales week-on-week, despite it’s initial push on every video game streaming platform following it’s heavily hyped arrival.

Here is a breakdown from the United Kingdom Boxed Top Ten for the week ending on August 26th, via GamesIndustry.biz.