Take-Two CEO: Loot boxes are not essential for us

Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of game publisher Take-Two, said during an oral presentation of the latest quarterly and annual results that loot boxes are not essential to his company’s revenue.

Zelnick was asked about the US senator passing legislation to ban loot boxes and pay-to-win elements in children’s games. The CEO says he isn’t too concerned about that: “To put it in context, loot boxes are responsible for less than three percent of our net bookings in the last fiscal year, so it’s not essential for us. We have used it in the past and we don’t think it’s a problem. We think it’s a very reasonable mechanic, but it’s only a small part of our business.”

The company reports in its fiscal year figures that it earned $2.93 billion in net bookings, an increase of 47 percent from the previous year. The term net bookings refers to the net number of products and services sold digitally or physically during a period, including license revenue, merchandise, in-game advertising. Recurring consumer spending, which includes virtual money, add-ons and in-game purchases, also increased and now accounts for 54 percent of net sales.

Net sales in the past quarter amounted to $539 million, compared to $450 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Red Dead Redemption 2, among others, has an important share in these figures. According to Zelnick, more than 24 million copies of the game have now been shipped worldwide. Grand Theft Auto V has now sold nearly 110 million copies.