Rockstar Games has nearly doubled its workforce as it develops Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6), growing from 2,441 employees when Red Dead Redemption 2 launched in 2018 to 4,711 employees across 12 studios this August. Yet shares of parent company Take-Two Interactive remain sharply lower this year. With roughly a month to go before GTA 6’s scheduled November 19 release, investors are weighing whether the expanded development effort and ambitious sales forecasts will translate into stronger results.
Rockstar expands as GTA 6 development stretches beyond eight years
GTA 6 has been in development for more than eight years, and its release date has been delayed twice. Following the second delay, Rockstar set the launch for November 19. The company has said that the work invested in the title could help shorten development cycles for future major releases, but it remains unclear whether the larger team will deliver a more consistent pipeline of games after GTA 6.
Rockstar has also sought to change its production culture by reducing excessive overtime. Additional working hours were not eliminated entirely during the project, however. The increase in headcount therefore reflects not only the scale of the GTA 6 investment, but also continued attention to working practices and the timing of delivery.
GTA 6 sales expectations meet pressure on Take-Two shares
Analysts expect GTA 6 to sell about 40 million copies in its first four months, potentially generating $3 billion in revenue. Take-Two shares closed at $205.28 last Friday and have fallen 21.86% over the past 12 months. The performance indicates that strong expectations for the game have not removed concerns about Take-Two’s near-term results.
Take-Two expects fiscal 2027 net bookings of $8 billion to $8.2 billion. The measure includes digital and physical sales, and the company reiterated the forecast in August with GTA 6’s November 19 launch included in its assumptions. Net bookings for the first quarter of the fiscal year, which ended in June, were $1.39 billion, down 3% from a year earlier.
Despite the reach of the GTA franchise, it typically accounts for less than 15% of Take-Two’s quarterly revenue. Assessing the game’s effect on the wider business will therefore require more than comparing expected unit sales; investors will also need to consider the company’s other operations and the composition of quarterly revenue.
Higher pricing raises the bar for launch performance
The standard edition of GTA 6 is priced at about $80, $20 more than the standard edition of GTA 5 when it launched in 2013. The higher price could affect purchase decisions, while also putting greater focus on whether actual sales and revenue match market expectations.
StoneX analyst Mike Hickey maintained a buy rating on Take-Two, with a $300 price target. He linked the share-price decline to factors including the timing of the online mode. Key near-term markers include whether GTA 6 launches on November 19 as scheduled, its initial sales performance, and whether Take-Two delivers on its fiscal 2027 net bookings guidance.