Take-Two soars after forecast signals mobile gaming rebound
(Reuters) -Take-Two Interactive Software shares rose 5.6% on Friday as the Zynga owner's strong forecast signaled a rebound in the mobile gaming industry following a years-long post-pandemic slump.
Once seen as the video-gaming industry's next big growth driver, the mobile market sputtered over the past few years as people spent more time outdoors after lockdowns and high inflation deterred non-essential spending by consumers.
That left investors waiting for payoffs from mobile gaming deals such as Take-Two's 2022 buyout of Zynga for $12.7 billion.
But Take-Two's raised annual forecast and better-than-expected results for the April-June period offered the clearest sign yet that the U.S. mobile-gaming market was bouncing back.
"We've seen so much momentum in a lot of our big titles and some of our titles that have really started to take off since the fourth quarter of last year and into this first quarter," finance chief Lainie Goldstein said.
Take-Two, whose fiscal year runs from April to March, makes puzzle-based mobile titles such as "Match Factory," "Color Block Jam" and "Toon Blast." Those games helped it post a nearly 17% jump in bookings - a revenue indicator - in its fiscal first quarter.
"Raises after first-quarter beats are generally rare in this industry, particularly with major releases still to come, but the ongoing strength in mobile leaves ample room for a simple passthrough of the upside," TD Cowen analysts said.
The mobile-gaming market is also benefiting from the growing integration of live-service features into titles to keep players spending. That helped in-app purchase revenue rise to $81.7 billion last year from $78.6 billion in 2023, Sensor Tower data showed.
Take-Two is set to add over $2 billion to its market cap if premarket gains hold.
Apart from the mobile business, Take-Two has large premium titles in its pipeline including "Mafia: The Old Country," set to release on Friday, as well as "Borderlands 4" and "Grand Theft Auto VI," all of which are expected to sell millions of copies.
"Between Take-Two's current performance, their upcoming releases like Mafia and Borderlands, and, of course, GTA VI, the firm should be optimistic," said Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern School of Business.
(Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Take-Two soars after forecast signals mobile gaming rebound
FILE PHOTO: NBA 2K22 and Grand Theft Auto 5 by Take-Two Interactive Software Inc are seen for sale in a store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., February 7, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo (Reuters) -Take-Two Interactive Software shares rose 5.6% on Friday as the Zynga owner's strong forecast signaled a rebound in the mobile gaming industry following a years-long post-pandemic slump. Once seen as the video-gaming industry's next big growth driver, the mobile market sputtered over the past few years as people spent more time outdoors after lockdowns and high inflation deterred non-essential spending by consumers. That left investors waiting for payoffs from mobile gaming deals such as Take-Two's 2022 buyout of Zynga for $12.7 billion. But Take-Two's raised annual forecast and better-than-expected results for the April-June period offered the clearest sign yet that the U.S. mobile-gaming market was bouncing back. "We've seen so much momentum in a lot of our big titles and some of our titles that have really started to take off since the fourth quarter of last year and into this first quarter," finance chief Lainie Goldstein said. Take-Two, whose fiscal year runs from April to March, makes puzzle-based mobile titles such as "Match Factory," "Color Block Jam" and "Toon Blast." Those games helped it post a nearly 17% jump in bookings - a revenue indicator - in its fiscal first quarter. "Raises after first-quarter beats are generally rare in this industry, particularly with major releases still to come, but the ongoing strength in mobile leaves ample room for a simple passthrough of the upside," TD Cowen analysts said. The mobile-gaming market is also benefiting from the growing integration of live-service features into titles to keep players spending. That helped in-app purchase revenue rise to $81.7 billion last year from $78.6 billion in 2023, Sensor Tower data showed. Take-Two is set to add over $2 billion to its market cap if premarket gains hold. Apart from the mobile business, Take-Two has large premium titles in its pipeline including "Mafia: The Old Country," set to release on Friday, as well as "Borderlands 4" and "Grand Theft Auto VI," all of which are expected to sell millions of copies. "Between Take-Two's current performance, their upcoming releases like Mafia and Borderlands, and, of course, GTA VI, the firm should be optimistic," said Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU Stern School of Business. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
The Star
6 days ago
- The Star
Millions are flocking to grow virtual gardens in viral Roblox game created by teenager
Whether it serves as a chill escape from the onslaught of the real world or simply a way to beat vacation doldrums, a viral Roblox game about gardening has become the surprise hit of the summer. Grow a Garden , created by a 16-year-old in a few days, has shattered records for the most concurrent players of any game in history, beating out video games that take years and millions of dollars to develop. And there's no one to shoot, fight or race. If your last attempt at cultivating vegetables was FarmVille in 2010, don't worry – your tomatoes will grow even if you never water them. Grow a Garden is as simple as its name suggests – players can fill a plot of land with plants and animals, harvest and sell, trade or steal each others' bounty. The game is low stress, with an aesthetic reminiscent of Minecraft and a soundtrack of soothing classical tunes such as Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca playing in the background. Its popularity has further cemented Roblox' place not just in the gaming world but in popular culture – for better or for worse, it's where the kids hang out. "The word I keep hearing used over and over to describe this particular game is that it's chill, which is just such a nice alternative. I get a lot of sort of that Animal Crossing vibe from it. You know, like you can check in, you can check your gardens, you can get some new seeds, you can plant them,' said Betsy Bozdech, editorial director at the nonprofit Common Sense Media. "I have an 11-year-old son who (plays it) and he says to him the big difference is that a lot of games have a big giant objective that you have to do, but in Grow a Garden , you can just kind of hang out and do what you want.' Coincidence or not, Grow a Garden soared to popularity around the same time that Take-Two Interactive announced it would delay the launch of its wildly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 until next year. In late June, the gardening game logged 21.6 million concurrent players, surpassing Fortnite 's previous record of 15.2 million according to Roblox. Analysts who follow Roblox's stock say Grow a Garden is helping boost the company's revenue and will push the company's quarterly earnings numbers above Wall Street's expectations. While it's not clear if the GTA audience flocked to this simple gardening game to pass the time until then, the timing reignited the age-old debate about who gamers are and what titles are taken seriously by the video game establishment. It happened with Candy Crush , with puzzle games, with Animal Crossing . Are people who play cozy games true gamers? Or is the title reserved for the folks who shoot enemies in Call Of Duty or drive around creating mayhem in GTA ? "There's a huge percentage of gamers that play Roblox and the actual industry just views it as like this esoterically immature platform of weird gameplay habits,' said Janzen Madsen, the New Zealand-based CEO and founder of Splitting Point studios, which acquired the game from its teenage creator. "Well, I actually think in five years this is what player expectation is gonna be. And because you guys haven't embraced it, like you're not gonna know how to make games.' To start growing your garden, you'll need a Roblox account. The game will start you out with an empty plot and some money – sheckles – and a starter seed. From there, you can plant seeds, harvest and sell your crops and buy more seeds, animals or tools for your garden. While it is possible to play the game without spending real-world money, it will take longer. Once you sell enough crops, you earn money to buy more expensive seeds beyond basic carrots and blueberries. "For me, I just, I really want to get all the rarest stuff. I'm a completionist, so I want everything and that's what's fun for me,' said Leah Ashe, a YouTuber who plays Grow a Garden and other popular games to an audience of 5.3 million. "It's really cool because you can come together because the seed shop is global, so everybody's shop is the exact same. So you can work with other people and be like, 'Oh my gosh, the sugar apple is in stock. Get online!' The seed shop updates every five minutes, so there's always something pulling you back into the game.' For Roblox, which has faced a backlash for not doing enough to protect kids on its gaming service, Grow a Garden has served as something of a reprieve – along with new safety measures such as chat restrictions and privacy tools. New players get help from more established peers who send them gifts and let them know when rare seeds become available in the seed shop. Bozdech said that "if you have the right supervision and guidance,' Roblox can be a positive experience for kids, allowing them to create their own designs or practice coding, for instance. "Something like Grow a Garden, particularly, is a nice opportunity maybe for parents and kids to play together,' she said. And perhaps the slow cultivating of a magical garden can benefit parents too. "It's hitting a nerve, you know?' Bozdech said. "People need an escape from the world, I think we all do.' – AP
The Star
05-08-2025
- The Star
CFTC to allow listed spot crypto trading on registered exchanges
Signage is seen outside of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo (Reuters) -The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday it would allow trading of spot crypto asset contracts that are listed on a futures exchange registered under the regulator. The digital assets industry has seen progress under President Donald Trump's administration, as bills like the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act have provided more regulatory certainty. The commission will enable immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal level in coordination with the Securities and Exchange Commission's "Project Crypto", CFTC acting chairman Caroline Pham said. The CFTC invited stakeholders on how to list the spot crypto asset contracts in a designated market. SEC Chair Paul Atkins outlined several pro-crypto initiatives last week, including directing staff to develop guidelines to determine when a crypto token qualifies as a security, and proposals for various disclosures and exemptions. The two regulators' approach marks a significant victory for the crypto industry, which has long advocated for tailored regulations. "Together, we will make America the crypto capital of the world," Pham said. (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
