Take-Two plans to spend GTA VI profits on buying more studios
GTA VI launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — and Take-Two is already planning what to do with the money. The publisher forecasts net bookings of $8.0–8.2 billion in fiscal year 2027, roughly 20% higher than last year, with GTA VI as the primary driver. CEO Strauss Zelnick has now signaled that a chunk of those profits will go toward buying more game studios.
The plan
Speaking on the Q4 FY26 earnings call, Zelnick outlined two growth tracks: organic (hiring, new game development, quality improvement) and inorganic (acquisitions). He said Take-Two has been disciplined about M&A; and intends to stay that way.
> "I'm proud to say that over almost two decades, every single one of our acquisitions has been successful. I think the reason is we're extraordinarily disciplined. As our capital position continues to improve, you can expect inorganic growth as well."
The company's two most recent deals were Gearbox Entertainment — the Borderlands studio, bought in 2024 for $460 million — and mobile giant Zynga, acquired in 2022 for $12.7 billion. Zelnick counts both as wins, though Zynga's integration hit headwinds from a broader slowdown in the mobile games market after the deal closed.
The money and the math
Analysts per 24/7 Wall St earnings expect Take-Two to generate over $1 billion in operating cash flow in FY27, giving the company real firepower for acquisitions. Take-Two's stock jumped around 6% when the GTA VI release date was confirmed on May 21. Shareholder pressure on how that cash gets deployed — acquisitions versus buybacks — is likely to intensify as launch day approaches.
Zelnick has framed future targets as "creative studios only," which analysts read as a signal that Take-Two won't chase large platform or tech plays. That framing also matters under post-FTC scrutiny: the Microsoft-Activision deal set a new bar for how gaming consolidation gets reviewed, and a selective, studio-focused approach is easier to defend.
What's still unknown
No specific acquisition targets have been named. The PC version of GTA VI is expected in 2027, adding another revenue wave after the console launch. Development costs for GTA VI are estimated at $1.0–1.5 billion, according to Kotaku — not the $2 billion figure that has circulated online; Take-Two does not officially disclose budgets.
Even without new acquisitions, GTA VI's launch alone is set to be one of the biggest revenue events in entertainment history.
