Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders opened at midnight on June 25, and the most anticipated video game in history now has a firm launch date: November 19, 2026.
The immediate temptation for investors is obvious. This is the biggest upcoming entertainment launch of the decade — Grand Theft Auto as a franchise has sold north of 470 million copies (1). And Rockstar is already guiding to record revenue. Surely the move is to buy Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) and ride the wave, right?
History shows it's not such a simple slam dunk.
Even Take-Two's CEO is uneasy. Strauss Zelnick has called the launch "terrifying" because the expectations are so high.
Take-Two stock rallied in the week leading up to pre-orders. Then it fell nearly 3% (2) the moment they actually opened. A standard edition priced at $79.99 came in below the $90-to-$100 some bulls had hoped for, and short-term traders did what they almost always do when there's a confirmed catalyst: they took profits and left. Unconfirmed reports put first-day pre-orders as high as 39 million and $3 billion in revenue — numbers neither Take-Two nor Rockstar has confirmed. The stock fell anyway.
The immediate temptation for investors is obvious. This is the biggest upcoming entertainment launch of the decade — Grand Theft Auto as a franchise has sold north of 470 million copies (1). And Rockstar is already guiding to record revenue. Surely the move is to buy Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) and ride the wave, right?
History shows it's not such a simple slam dunk.
Even Take-Two's CEO is uneasy. Strauss Zelnick has called the launch "terrifying" because the expectations are so high.
Take-Two stock rallied in the week leading up to pre-orders. Then it fell nearly 3% (2) the moment they actually opened. A standard edition priced at $79.99 came in below the $90-to-$100 some bulls had hoped for, and short-term traders did what they almost always do when there's a confirmed catalyst: they took profits and left. Unconfirmed reports put first-day pre-orders as high as 39 million and $3 billion in revenue — numbers neither Take-Two nor Rockstar has confirmed. The stock fell anyway.
4 months ago
