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GTA Parent Company Sees Huge Decline in Sales, But There's a Good Reason Why

Company posted $135.4 million in revenue this quarter, compared to $1.27 billion last year when Grand Theft Auto V was released.

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Take-Two Interactive today announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, with the company posting a huge drop in overall sales compared to last year, but there's a good explanation.

For this quarter, net revenue was $135.4 million, compared to a massive $1.27 billion last year thanks to the massive success of Grand Theft Auto V. Take-Two posted a net loss of $35.4 million during the quarter, compared to a profit of $325.6 million this time last year.

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The biggest contributors to Take-Two's bottom line this quarter were catalog sales, which made up $134.5 million of the company's overall $135.4 million in revenue, Take-Two said. This was led by GTA V, Grand Theft Auto Online, NBA 2K14, Borderlands 2, and WWE 2K14.

Net revenue from digitally delivered content was also down year-over-year, falling from $105.5 million last year to $89.8 million this year. Again, last year benefited from the record-breaking release of GTA V. The biggest contributors to take-Two's digital sales this quarter were Grand Theft Auto and NBA games, as well as Borderlands 2 and Civilization V, Take-Two said.

There was one particularly bright spot, however. Revenue from recurrent consumer spending, that is virtual currency and DLC sales, grew 45 percent year-over-year and made up 58 percent of revenue from digitally delivered content.

Take-Two also revealed today that it made about $22 million in cash as a result of its investment in Twitch, which was sold to Amazon for $970 million, in a deal that closed in September 2014.

Looking ahead, Take-Two has a number of marquee titles lined up for releases, including the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of GTA V and WWE 2K15 on November 18, as well as BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition on November 4. Even further out, Take-Two will release Evolve in February 2015 and Gearbox Software's new game, Battleborn, in fiscal 2016.

The publisher will hold an earnings call beginning at 4:30 PM Eastern today to discuss these results and answer analyst and media questions. Check back soon for more.

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