CEO Strauss Zelnick Says GTA VI Pre-Orders “Outperformed Take-Two’s Expectations”, but Guidance Stays Put Until Launch; He Feels “Very Good” About Where BioShock Is Going

Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive reported its Q2 2027 results, revealing weaker NBA 2K27 sales but also boasting that Grand Theft Auto VI's preorders have reached "unprecedented levels".

Total Net Bookings decreased 18% to $1.60 billion compared to $1.96 billion during last year’s fiscal second quarter, while Net Bookings from recurrent consumer spending decreased 9% and accounted for 81% of total Net Bookings. Consequently, GAAP net revenue was $1.50 billion, down from $1.77 billion in Q2 2026.

Following the report, Take-Two shares fell a bit (-3,48%), but not too much. Indeed, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Strauss Zelnick kept up the positive vibes:

We had a terrific quarter, obviously. We were at the low end of our net bookings range, but obviously in terms of profitability performance, we were very, very strong. We have an array of great releases. NBA 2K27 is the second most successful launch in the history of the NBA 2K franchise, and our pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI outperformed our expectations. So we're feeling exceedingly positive for the rest of the year.

When prodded by GamesIndustry Features Editor Lewis Packwood about the comment on Grand Theft Auto VI preorders, Zelnick added:

The point that we're making is our prior expectations obviously were aligned with our guidance, and the pre-orders are far exceeding our original expectations. We're maintaining our guidance, because the release is only 10 days away and we'll know a lot more after the release.

Take-Two is maintaining its previous outlook for fiscal year 2027 at $8-8.2 billion in Net Bookings, likely a conservative move ahead of the official launch of GTA VI, which, according to Sensor Tower's public tracker, was almost at 8 million units sold as of November 3.

Strauss Zelnick didn't just talk about Grand Theft Auto VI, though. The executive also briefly spoke about the next BioShock, which was announced in December 2019 but was rebooted several times due to significant development issues. In 2025, there was yet another pivot, with experienced producer Rod Fergusson taking over as the new Studio Head of Cloud Chamber. According to a report from Jason Schreier at the time, the game is now targeting a late 2027 release window.

Today, Zelnick said:

It's still in development. We feel very good about how it's going. We definitely did face some development challenges. We feel like we're on the right track now, but you're correct, we did face some challenges along the way.

Finally, the Take-Two CEO commented on another problematic game, the free-to-play shooter Project Ethos, which similarly ran into trouble at developer 31st Union. Zelnick said the game's public beta was very disappointing, but the team has since made various improvements, and the publisher is feeling optimistic about the project as a whole.

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