J. Clement
Research lead covering internet and gaming
Take-Two Interactive is a holding company which owns several major game developers and publishers, including 2K, Rockstar Games, and Private Division. The company made major headlines in January 2022 with its 12.7 billion U.S. dollar acquisition of Zynga, one of the leading mobile social gaming companies in one of the biggest video game industry purchases of all time.
At the end of fiscal 2023, Take-Two Interactive had approximately 11,580 full-time employees with more than half of those working outside the United States.
Games owned by Take-Two often boast impressive sales. Grand Theft Auto and the NBA 2K series can claim more than 180 millionn and 135 million unit sales each, and Rockstar’s highly anticipated release of Read Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018 saw the game selling a staggering 17 million copies in the two weeks post launch.
GTA 5 is also one of the top ranked games on streaming platform Twitch, where the title regularly accounts for a significant chunk of total Twitch audiences. In December 2022, Twitch viewers watched approximately 23.1 million weekly hours of Grand Theft Auto 5 gaming content.
To further expand its mobile gaming division, Take-Two purchased mobile developer Nordeus (now rebranded as T2 Mobile Games) in June 2021 and the company took its acqui-hiring strategy one step further by buying mobile social gaming giant Zynga for 12.7 billion U.S. dollars in January 2022, its biggest acquisition to date. This move mirrors industry competitor Activision Blizzard’s successful purchase of King (publisher of Candy Crush Saga) in 2016. In November 2022, Take-Two also purchased free-to-play mobile gaming studio Popcore.
A major player on the gaming market
Take-Two Interactive was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in New York City with development studios all across the globe. In the company’s fiscal year 2023 (ending March 2023), Take-Two saw more than 5.3 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, the companies best result yet. However, this success was marred by an annual net loss of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. A large part of the losses in Take-Two's FY 2023 were related to impairment charges of over 465 million U.S. dollars for acquisition-related intangible assets, as well as more than 50 million U.S. dollars in capitalized software development costs for cancelled and unreleased titles. Up until the most recently reported year, gaming consoles accounted for the majority of Take-Two's revenues but the company's newly bulked-up mobile segment outperformed console this time around. Additionally, recurrent consumer spending (including virtual currency, add-on content, and in-game purchases) making up the bulk of sales.At the end of fiscal 2023, Take-Two Interactive had approximately 11,580 full-time employees with more than half of those working outside the United States.
Popular gaming titles by Take-Two Interactive
Major franchises in the Take-Two Interactive portfolio include 2K Sports, BioShock, Borderlands, Mafia, Sid Meier's Civilization, and XCOM (via 2K Games), Grand Theft Auto, L.A. Noire, Max Payne and Red Dead (via Rockstar Games), as well as publishing rights of indie hits such as The Outer Worlds or Hades through its Private Division label for mid-sized independent developers.Games owned by Take-Two often boast impressive sales. Grand Theft Auto and the NBA 2K series can claim more than 180 millionn and 135 million unit sales each, and Rockstar’s highly anticipated release of Read Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018 saw the game selling a staggering 17 million copies in the two weeks post launch.
Top game: Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5)
Grand Theft Auto is one of the best-selling franchises in gaming with Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) being the most enduringly popular title of the entire series. First released in 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the action-adventure has gotten a re-release for PC and every new PlayStation and Xbox generation since then. As of May 2023, GTA 5 has generated more than 180 million lifetime unit sales with no signs of slowing down. Recent company outlook data indicates a 2025 fiscal year release slot for the game's successor, GTA 6, which has been confirmed to be currently in production. As such, Take-Two is in no rush to abandon its top title for a while yet.GTA 5 is also one of the top ranked games on streaming platform Twitch, where the title regularly accounts for a significant chunk of total Twitch audiences. In December 2022, Twitch viewers watched approximately 23.1 million weekly hours of Grand Theft Auto 5 gaming content.
Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga in context
In 2021, mobile and social accounted for the majority of gaming revenues worldwide. Take-Two’s entries in the mobile gaming market have so far been met with comparatively modest success and the company is aggressively moving to change that.To further expand its mobile gaming division, Take-Two purchased mobile developer Nordeus (now rebranded as T2 Mobile Games) in June 2021 and the company took its acqui-hiring strategy one step further by buying mobile social gaming giant Zynga for 12.7 billion U.S. dollars in January 2022, its biggest acquisition to date. This move mirrors industry competitor Activision Blizzard’s successful purchase of King (publisher of Candy Crush Saga) in 2016. In November 2022, Take-Two also purchased free-to-play mobile gaming studio Popcore.
