(Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive Software Inc on Monday raised annual adjusted sales targets on sustained demand for its top franchises, “NBA 2K” and “Grand Theft Auto”, as COVID-19 curbs continue to boost videogame sales worldwide.
The company lifted its full-year adjusted revenue forecast to a range of $3.37 billion to $3.42 billion, from an earlier view of $3.15 billion to $3.25 billion. Analysts had expected sales of $3.3 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Rivals Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard last week forecast upbeat revenue on the back of a pandemic-led boost in demand for videogames, which garnered record sales of $56.9 billion in 2020, according to research firm NPD.
Take-Two said the largest contributors to sales in the reported quarter were “NBA2K21” and “NBA2K20”.
“Grand Theft Auto V” live-streams more than doubled to 229,000 viewers, on an average, in the three months ended Dec. 31, from a year earlier, data from Twitchtracker.com https://twitchtracker.com/games/32982 showed.
On an adjusted basis, Take-Two reported revenue of $814.3 million for the third quarter, beating analysts’ average estimate of $747 million.
(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
