Tag: rockstar games

Grand Theft Auto 6 Won’t Arrive Until Fall 2025, Take-Two Confirms

Take-Two Interactive Software tempered expectations for fiscal 2025 bookings on Thursday, after setting the release of Grand Theft Auto VI in the fall of calendar 2025.

Shares of the New York-based company fell 2.5 percent in extended trading.

The forecast reflects the new launch timing for the hotly-anticipated title, the company said, which is expected to be an instant hit with billions of dollars in sales each year according to several analysts.

The video game publisher now expects fiscal 2025 bookings between $5.55 billion and $5.65 billion, down from its prior forecast of just over $7 billion.

Take-Two’s dour forecast follows disappointing forecasts from Electronic Arts and Roblox last week.

Take-Two let go of about 5 percent of its workforce last month and scrapped several projects in development as part of a cost-reduction plan, aligning with similar moves across the gaming industry as it grapples with slower consumer spending.

Still, the company and analysts expect bookings to accelerate fiscal 2025 onwards, helped by the GTA launch and a string of other releases, including titles from its recent acquisition of “Borderlands” maker Gearbox Entertainment.

“My guess is that they add $150 million this year and perhaps $300 million to $400 million in FY27, Wedbush securities analyst Michael Pachter said, when asked how much revenue Gearbox could contribute to Take-Two.

“We believe that our company is poised to achieve new levels of success, and we expect to deliver sequential growth in net bookings for fiscal 2025, 2026, and 2027,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

Take-Two has a pipeline of about 40 titles through fiscal 2027 while it has 16 titles in its fiscal 2025, company executives said on a post-earnings conference call.

“They (Take-Two) should see a lot of growth in GTA Online once GTA VI launches,” Wedbush’s Pachter added.

Take-Two’s fourth-quarter bookings fell 3 percent to $1.35 billion, but beat the average analysts’ estimate of $1.30 billion, according to LSEG data.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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GTA 5 Scrapped Story Expansion Details Emerge as Actor Says Rockstar ‘Shot Some Stuff’ for Trevor DLC

Grand Theft Auto 5 has received multiple updates over the years, adding new content, missions, heists and more to GTA Online, but the game has never received a story expansion since its initial release in 2013. Past reports have mentioned scrapped plans for story DLCs for the game, and more recently leaked database file from GTA 5 suggested that developers Rockstar Games cancelled a story mode DLC related to Trevor, one of the game’s three main protagonists. Now, the actor who played the eccentric character in GTA 5 has said that he “shot some stuff” for a Trevor DLC that never saw the light of day.

In a GTA 5 Q&A stream featuring Steven Ogg, Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno, who played the game’s three protagonists Trevor, Michael and Franklin, respectively, the actors revealed a few details about planned story expansion for the game. While Luke mentioned that Rockstar initially planned to continue the stories of the three career criminals, Ogg detailed a Trevor-focussed DLC that was in the works.

“I forget if it was DLC, I have no idea, but Trevor was going to be undercover. He works for the feds. And we did shoot some of that stuff, with ‘James Bond Trevor,’” Ogg said in the stream. “And we shot some stuff, and then it just disappeared, and they never did it and they never followed up on it,” he added.

Ogg was likely referring to the Trevor DLC that was discovered when GTA 5 database file leaked in November 2023. The leaked file included a string related to Trevor, hinting at a story mode expansion for the game.

Back in 2014, Rockstar had teased “some very exciting Story Mode DLC and much more” in a newswire post, but the studio instead shifted its focus on providing new updates for GTA Online and directed resources to the development of Red Dead Redemption 2, later confirming that GTA 5 would not receive a story-based expansion. “…we did not feel single-player expansions were either possible or necessary, but we may well do them for future projects,” Rockstar had told Game Informer in 2017.

Rockstar Games have notably done ambitious story expansions for their past games. Grand Theft Auto 4 received two major story additions in The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, both of which added new protagonists, characters and story, interconnected with the main game.

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GTA 6 Trailer Leak Was ‘Disappointing’ but Did Not Hurt the Team, Says Take-Two CEO: Report

Grand Theft Auto 6 is set to release some time in 2025, with developer Rockstar Games announcing the much-awaited title via a trailer late last year. The GTA 6 trailer, which has 174 million views on YouTube at the time of writing, came out December 5, showing off shiny visuals, a dense and detailed Vice City, and a Tom Petty song that has since experienced a 37,000 percent increase in its Spotify streams. But hours before Rockstar was forced to actually put out the trailer, it leaked on the Internet. Now, the CEO of Rockstar owner Take-Two has said that the leak was “disappointing.”

Ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings call Thursday, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told IGN that the GTA 6 trailer leak was “disappointing,” but it did not hurt the team at Rockstar and its parent company, according to him.

“In terms of the leak, that’s always disappointing for the team, but ultimately, I don’t think it hurt us,” Zelnick said. The Take-Two chief added that the team was gratified when the official trailer “broke the internet.”

Zelnick’s statement echoed his comments from February last year, when he addressed a separate leak that revealed in-development footage from GTA 6. At the time, Zelnick had claimed that the leak was an “emotional matter” rather than a business one. “We take leaks very seriously indeed and they disappoint all of us, it’s really frustrating and upsetting to the team,” he had said. “However, as a business matter we’re not affected. But as a personal matter and an emotional matter, our teams are affected.”

GTA 6’s development has been fraught with speculation and leaks, the biggest of which was a hack that released over 90 videos of in-development gameplay in September 2022, revealing the game’s two protagonists and its Vice City setting. These details were finally confirmed when Rockstar released the GTA 6 trailer, featuring two playable characters — Lucia and her partner (presumed to be Jason) — and a Miami-inspired Leonida as the location of the game. Posting the official trailer on X, Rockstar had said, “Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube.”

Take-Two, meanwhile, reported its third quarter earnings for fiscal year 2024, ended December 31, 2023, on Thursday. The company’s net bookings for the quarter came in at $1.3 billion (roughly Rs. 11,126 crore) on the back of strong performance of Grand Theft Auto 5, GTA Online, and the Red Dead Redemption series. Take-Two, however, forecast its fourth-quarter bookings below market expectations and cut down its annual estimates for the year. Additionally, the company also revised its revenue projections for fiscal year 2025 (ended March 31, 2025), suggesting that GTA 6 may not release by March next year. Analysts have said that the release of game would represent a noticeable boost in the company’s corresponding quarterly earnings. The game will likely launch in fiscal year 2026, in the second half of next year.

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GTA 6 May Not Release by March 2025, Take-Two Revenue Forecast Suggests

Take-Two Interactive Software forecast fourth-quarter bookings below market expectations and cut its annual estimates on Thursday, on signs of weak demand for its gaming titles such as NBA 2K, sending its shares plunging 10 percent after the bell.

Lower consumer spending and stiff competition from players such as Electronic Arts and Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard are hurting the video game publisher.

Take-Two forecast fourth-quarter bookings in the range of $1.27 billion (roughly Rs. 10,542 crore) to $1.32 billion (roughly Rs. 10,957 crore), compared with analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion (roughly Rs. 12,534 crore), according to LSEG data.

It also cut its projection for full-year bookings to a range of $5.25 billion (roughly Rs. 43,578 crore) to $5.30 billion (roughly Rs. 43,993 crore) from its earlier forecast of $5.45 billion (roughly Rs. 45,239 crore) to $5.55 billion (roughly Rs. 46,069 crore).

“The forecast cut is almost entirely attributable to the shift of a game out of the fiscal year, so no real impact on the company’s long-term prospects”, said Wedbush securities analyst Michael Pachter.

But the company’s latest projection of “a little above $7 billion (roughly Rs. 58,105 crore) for net bookings” for fiscal 2025, after its last year’s downwardly revised forecast of under $8 billion (roughly Rs. 66,406 crore) dashed investors’ hopes.

They were expecting a boost from Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto VI, the latest installment of the best-selling franchise that is set for a 2025 release.

“The reduction in outlook tells you it’s (Grand Theft Auto VI) not coming next fiscal year,” Pachter added.

Third-quarter hit

Take-Two’s net bookings fell 3 percent to $1.34 billion (roughly Rs. 11,122 crore) in the third quarter, in line with analysts’ estimates.

The solid performance of games such as GTA Online and the Red Dead Redemption series was partially offset by softness in mobile advertising and sales of NBA 2K, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 71 cents per share compared with estimates of 72 cents.

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GTA 5 Source Code, GTA 6 Code, Bully 2 Files Reportedly Leaked

Rockstar Games has seemingly been hit with yet another leak. Several reports have tipped that the complete source code of Grand Theft Auto 5 has been leaked. Reports have also suggested the leak includes GTA 6 codes and files from a rumoured sequel to the company’s 2006 game, Bully. Notably, the hacker who helped leak GTA 6 gameplays last year was sentenced to indefinite hospital prison last week. Even the GTA 6 trailer was revealed 15 hours ahead of schedule in response to a leak that had shared the trailer online.

YouTuber SKizzleAXE shared screenshots of the leak in a post on X. It includes GTA 5 source code, which shows an early map for the game. It also suggests that GTA 6 was previously codenamed “Project Americas.” The leak also shows a file for Bully 2, which has long been speculated to launch as the sequel to 2006’s Bully.

Gaming Detective (@that1detectiv3) claims in a post on X that the full extent of the leak is not yet known, but it is expected to result in several technical issues, including but not limited to the launch delay for games like GTA 6. Rockstar Games has not yet made a public comment on the leak. 

Over 90 videos were leaked by teenage hacker Arion Kurtaj in September 2022, which is considered the biggest leak in gaming history. Last week, he was sentenced to an indefinite period in hospital prison based on a mental assessment.

In November this year, a database file from GTA 5, including a string related to Trevor, one of the three main protagonists of the game, and a jet pack, was leaked. A string related to Bully 2, which has been rumoured to be in the works for long, was also leaked. Previously, a 2018 report claimed that the sequel would be released that year. No official announcement about Bully 2 has been made yet.

Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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GTA VI Hacker Gets Indefinite Hospital Sentence: Report

The hacker responsible for leaking in-development videos of Grand Theft Auto VI last year has been reportedly confined to a secure hospital — for an indefinite period. As per BBC News, an 18-year-old individual named Arion Kurtaj, who was part of the notorious cybercrime group Lapsus$, was deemed unfit to stand trial due to acute autism diagnosis. So, based on a mental assessment, the jury was asked to decide whether the heinous act was committed with criminal intent — resulting in the claim that the individual was ‘highly motivated’ to return to crime. As such, he has been sentenced to life in hospital indefinitely until he’s deemed as no longer dangerous to people.

Kurtaj was arrested back in September 2022 on suspicion of the Rockstar Games hack, during which he pled not guilty and faced trial for the crimes his cybercrime group committed against Nvidia and Uber. “The jury was told that while he was on bail for hacking Nvidia and BT/EE and in police protection at a Travelodge hotel, he continued hacking and carried out his most infamous hack,” the report states. The hack was seemingly carried out in a hotel room, which he performed using an Amazon Firestick, a television, and a smartphone. (His laptop was allegedly confiscated from a previous breach attack.) Having gained access to the company’s Slack group, he boldly threatened to release the GTA 6 source code within the next 24 hours unless Rockstar negotiated with him over the Telegram messaging app.

While not explicitly mentioned, Rockstar might have declined his requests, leading to Kurtaj releasing over 90 clips from the highly anticipated video game into the wilds, in what could be called one of the biggest leaks in gaming history. Earlier this month, the company dropped the first trailer for GTA VI, showing off some in-engine footage and a glimpse at our two leads, Lucia and Jason. That video garnered 62 million views within just 13 hours of release, causing Kurtaj’s defence team to argue that the leaks barely put a dent in the game’s success and that no serious harm was caused. However, Rockstar argued that the leak spoiled thousands of hours put into development and affected the team morale, causing $5 million worth of damage for recovery. In addition to Kurtaj, another unnamed 17-year-old male was convicted of partaking in the cyberattack on Nvidia and stealing cryptocurrency.

More recently, another AAA game studio Insomniac Games fell victim to a ransomware attack, with the responsible cybercrime group releasing 1.67TB of confidential data into the wild, including a fully functioning build of the upcoming Wolverine game, emails between employees and their personal information, presentations on future release slate, sales figures, and more. Game developers around the world have united to shower love and support to the affected and denounced hacks which could endanger people’s lives.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S/X sometime in 2025.

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GTA 6 Trailer Out Now; Will Be Available in 2025, Platforms Confirmed

GTA 6 trailer has been officially released. The trailer was initially scheduled to go live on December 5 at 9am ET (7:30pm IST). However, it was released 15 hours ahead of schedule following a leak. Grand Theft Auto 5 was introduced in September 2013. Therefore, the anticipation surrounding the GTA 6 trailer, after 10 years of the game’s last release, was already soaring. The leak and thereby the preponed release of the game’s trailer has sent enthusiasts into a frenzy. The launch timeline and compatible platforms for GTA 6 were also officially announced.

A now-suspended account on X leaked the GTA 6 trailer. Rockstar Games, the developer was quick to respond and uploaded the official trailer on YouTube. In a post on X, Rockstar wrote, “Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube” and embedded the trailer alongside. Within four hours of its release, the trailer had garnered more than 29 million views on the video sharing platform.

The trailer shows that GTA 6 is set in Vice City, a fictionalised version of Miami. We are then introduced to the female protagonist named Lucia, who we initially see behind bars and later follow around as she goes around the city in Bonnie and Clyde-inspiring adventures. We also catch glimpses of classic GTA elements, like fast cars, guns, money, and more.

In a press release, Rockstar Games confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be released in 2025 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. An exact release date will likely be announced closer to the launch. The company noted in the release that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 190 million units to date.

The GTA 6 trailer launch was preceded by multiple online leaks previously. The map of the location of GTA 6, Vice City was shared online, reportedly by a Rockstar Games employee’s son. The fictionalised version of Miami was shown in a panoramic view and scale in the leak.

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Grand Theft Auto 6 Map Leaks Are Reportedly From a Rockstar Employee’s Son



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Grand Theft Auto 6 Map Leaks Are Reportedly From a Rockstar Employee’s Son

Just a day away from getting our first look at Grand Theft Auto 6, a leak has surfaced that claims to show footage from the upcoming game. As per GTABase.com on Twitter, TikTok account ‘azzarossi’ posted a video showing a quick panoramic view and scale of the alleged location GTA 6 is based in — a fictionalised version of Miami aka Vice City. The video also shows a Pißwasser billboard, an in-game beer brand that’s been ever-present in GTA games. While the account has since gone private, there is no way to verify whether the footage is real. The important landmarks, however, match with the massive data leak from last year, which exposed over 90 in-development clips into the wild.

The same TikTok user also posted a picture of himself alongside Aaron Garbut, head of development and co-studio head at Rockstar North, leading to speculation that the leaker could be the Rockstar Games employee’s son. While there’s still no evidence of the publisher taking down videos for copyright infringement, it’s kind of startling how the “my dad works at Rockstar/ Xbox/ PlayStation” meme turned out to be real for once. If true, the leaker has certainly got his father into big trouble at the studio for some online likes, despite having privated their account near-instantaneously. The last time the publisher dealt with leaks, an unnamed 17-year-old was reportedly arrested for hacking and being part of the group that claimed credit for the Uber leaks. Rockstar hasn’t released any statement regarding the leaks and now would also be a good time to block keywords on social media to avoid spoilers.

Meanwhile, the company is prepared to debut the first trailer for the next GTA game on Tuesday, November 5 at 7:30pm IST in India/ 9am ET in the US. While the internet is eagerly waiting for GTA 6, Rockstar has not revealed an official title for the game yet, so it could very well be a spin-off with a subtitle instead of being a numbered sequel. A countdown video is also now live on YouTube. There’s no word on a release window, but a May earnings report from Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive hints at a window within the 2025 fiscal year, which opens as early as April next year. Ambitions are quite high at the studio, which is said to be introducing its first playable Latina female protagonist and also increasing the number of enterable indoor locations for better immersion. There are reportedly two leads though, a crime couple that has been likened to the real-life Bonnie and Clyde, who went around robbing banks and stores during the Great Depression in America.

People online also tried matching the leaked clip with the real Miami City and found stark similarities between the two. Ahead of the GTA 6 trailer launch, Rockstar has altered its logo and got rid of its ‘Social Club’ branding, though its online multiplayer component still functions the same. Furthermore, the studio is launching its remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy on Netflix on December 14, available to all subscribers and featuring graphical and mechanical upgrades.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will probably launch on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S/X first, before heading to PC — as seen with previous Rockstar entries.

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GTA 6 Trailer Coming This Tuesday, Rockstar Games Confirms

Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer release date is finally upon us, as confirmed by Rockstar Games via a tweet. The first footage from the highly-anticipated crime odyssey sequel will be out on Tuesday, December 5, at 7:30pm IST in India/ 9am ET in the US, with the publisher only posting an image of a sunset and palm tree silhouettes — confirming previous claims that it’s set in a fictionalised version of Miami, which franchise veterans might recognise as a return to Vice City. With that, it is clear that Geoff Keighley won’t be presenting the trailer at The Game Awards 2023, though a teaser or some screenshot drops are always possible.

Not much was known about GTA 6 since a massive data leak from mid-2022, which revealed in-development gameplay of our lead crime couple — allegedly Jason and Lucia — robbing a diner in broad daylight. Yep, this would mark the first female protagonist in the franchise’s controversial history, which has, for the most part, portrayed women as sex objects or nagging moms/wives. It is also worth mentioning that Rockstar hasn’t revealed an official title for the game yet, merely referring to it as the ‘next Grand Theft Auto,’ so it could very well be a spin-off with some outlandish subtitle. The sequel has been a long time coming, with a May earnings call at Rockstar parent Take-Two Interactive hinting that the GTA 6 launch window could be set for the fiscal year 2025 (opens in April 2024 in Rockstar’s case).

Earlier this month, the studio also scrapped the ‘Social Club’ branding from the website, referring to its online multiplayer service as ‘Rockstar Games platform,’ in addition to getting rid of the yellow block in its logo — hinting at some big changes to usher in the new era. At the time of writing, the studio has deleted all previous posts from its Instagram account, maintaining only the aforementioned trailer release date banner. As anticipation for GTA 6 grew, GTA Online served as the decade-long cash cow for Rockstar, delivering near-endless multiplayer content that easily rivalled the average AAA live service game. For now, it’s unclear whether the existing Social Club members will simply be updated to cater to the new entry or if players will be forced to migrate their data to a new account.

As of October, the 2013-released Grand Theft Auto V has sold 190 million copies worldwide, with minor graphical and performance upgrades to adjust to two whole console generations. Just yesterday, Rockstar confirmed that its remastered Grand Theft Auto trilogy will be available to play on Netflix from December 14 onwards — accessible to subscribers of all tiers and playable exclusively on Android, iOS, and the Netflix phone app.

Grand Theft Auto 6 will probably release on the current-gen PS5 and Xbox Series S/X first, before heading to PC — as seen with previous Rockstar entries.

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Rockstar Games’ Leaked Database Allegedly Hints at Scrapped GTA 5 Story DLC and Bully Sequel

Rockstar Games, makers of the incredibly popular Grand Theft Auto series, finally announced earlier this month that they would officially reveal GTA 6 in December. In a series of posts from Rockstar’s X account, studio co-founder Sam Houser confirmed that the much-awaited trailer for GTA 6 would arrive in December. A new leak, however, has unearthed evidence about scrapped story DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5. First released in 2013, GTA 5 still features on best-selling charts every month a decade into its run, thanks to GTA Online’s thriving success and massive player base. Despite demand from fans, the main game never received a story expansion, with Rockstar instead opting to provide regular updates to the money-spinning online mode. The leak also reveals a canned sequel to 2006’s Bully, a cult favourite title from Rockstar that never received a follow-up.

As spotted by VGC, X users Liam (@billsyliamgta) posted a database file from GTA 5 that hints at a story mode DLC for the game. The leaked database includes a string related to Trevor, one of the three main protagonists of GTA 5, and a jet pack.

In a separate tweet, the leaker posted a database file with references to Rockstar titles like GTA 4, Midnight Club, Red Dead Redemption 2 and more. The same file also includes a string related to Bully 2, suggesting that there might have been a Bully sequel in the works at some point at Rockstar.

Bully is an open-world action-adventure title that follows the escapades of a delinquent student at a boarding school. The game explored high school cliques and bullying, while providing an arcade-style recreation of a school going experience, where players could attend classes, take on side activities with other students, and get into school trouble.

Bully 2 has been long rumoured, with fans of the first game calling for a sequel for years. Back in 2018, it was reported that a Bully sequel could be Rockstar Games’ next release after Red Dead Redemption 2. A leaked casting call from an unnamed UK-based video game developer had sought mainly teenagers and young people for motion-capture performances for an unannounced video game, which had led people to think the new title could be Bully 2.

There has been no official word from Rockstar on a Bully sequel or story mode content for GTA 5. The studio, however, has announced that its next game is GTA 6, with a reveal trailer set to arrive next month. No further official details from the upcoming game are available, but an audacious hack targeting Rockstar Games in September last year, revealed in-development gameplay footage from GTA 6. The leak, which popped up on a popular GTA forum, consisted of over 90 videos showing two playable characters, Lucia and Jason, all but confirming that the next Grand Theft Auto will have a female protagonist. The game is also believed to be set in a fictional version of US state Miami, with Vicy City at the centre of the story.

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