NBA 2K18 breaks sales and revenue records for the series
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Take Two today revealed financial details from Q3 2018 and that included record numbers for NBA 2K18. The company saw growth in both total net revenue and digitally-delivered net revenue over the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. NBA 2K18 was a big driver in both areas (digital up 30%) along with the Grand Theft Auto titles.
Last year for NBA 2K17 it was a figure of 8.5 million touted by Take Two for that release quarter which turned out to be a “shipped” number instead of a “sold” number. Take Two announced NBA 2K18 as nearing 8 million sales, which they claim is up 25% from 2K17, so presumably it’s an actual “sold” number rather than “shipped” this time around.
There’s no question that the NBA 2K series is healthy from a financial standpoint. What will be watched closely are any changes made in response to the backlash towards 2K18 and the effect on next year’s sales, where the signs of any consumer discontent would potentially materialize in the sales numbers and digital revenue production.
The continued rise of revenue from Virtual Currency comes as no surprise given the pressure placed on consumers to spend simply to enjoy the game, but whether they’ll come back to do it all the same way again next year is the big question. No game can continue to grow forever and the low scores and poor word of mouth that came from both reviewers and consumers post-release could result in that coming to an end with NBA 2K19. Until then however Take Two is reaping nothing but rewards.