Take-Two Revenues Down, 1 Million BioShocked, 2K Starts to Play

New York-headquartered game conglomerate Take-Two posted its third quarter fiscal year 2007 results today, revealing a 14.4% year-over-year drop in revenue. The quarter ending July 31 follows Take-Two's first and second quarter losses with a $58.5 million net loss, though the deficit is less than the $91.4 million loss posted in the third quarter of 2006. "Take-Two is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth of the video game market as next generation consoles gain traction," said Take-Two CEO Ben Feder in the earnings release. Accompanying the bummer of a filing was news that 2K Boston/2K Australia's underwater shooter demo for BioShock has become the fastest demo to hit 1 million downloads on Xbox Live Marketplace. Though no ship-through numbers were given for the retail software, Take-Two says 1.5 million units of BioShock have shipped worldwide. And yet another announcement from Take-Two revealed formation of 2K Play, the publisher's new casual games label. Take-Two has secured a licensing agreement with children's TV channel Nickelodeon, making the first two 2K Play published games based on Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! The financial statement from Take-Two also detailed the company's guidance for fiscal year 2008. Unlike 2007, which Take-Two has predicted will end with both a net loss for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year, the company predicts profitability in fiscal year 2008 led by revenues of $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion. The third quarter marked Take-Two's first entry into publishing for Nintendo's Wii console, with Blue Castle Games' The Bigs and 7 Studios' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer retailing for the console in June. In addition to a strong lineup led by Grand Theft Auto IV, titles published for Nintendo's top-selling console could enhance Take-Two's revenue stream. Wii titles in the third quarter made up just 6% of Take-Two's overall revenue, but upcoming releases this year include Rockstar Leeds' Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis, Konami's MLB Power Pros, and Rockstar Toronto's Manhunt 2.