Grand Theft Auto Online transactions help Take-Two to a record year (Update)

Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of 2K Games and Rockstar Games, closed out its fiscal year by nearly doubling its revenue over what it earned in 2013, driven largely by online transactions in titles such as Grand Theft Auto V and NBA 2K14.

In a call with investors this afternoon, Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick said Grand Theft Auto Online was the single largest contributor to online revenue, which helped the company to strong results despite a sluggish final quarter compared to 2013.

Fourth quarter revenue for Take-Two was down about $70 million from that of the fiscal fourth quarter in 2013. Take-Two attributed this to BioShock Infinite launching in that quarter a year ago, with no complementary title replacing it this year.

Net revenue for fiscal year 2014 grew to $2.351 billion from $1.214 billion, an increase of 94 percent. Take-Two said the 2014 figure is a record.

"During fiscal 2014, Take-Two set new records for both our company and the entertainment industry," Zelnick said in a statement announcing the figures. "Over the past several years, Take-Two has been transformed into a financially strong, global interactive entertainment company with numerous successful franchises across a variety of genres. We also have complemented the Company's core business with growing profits from recurrent consumer spending, including add-on content, virtual currency and online gaming."

The statement also touted the 33 million units of Grand Theft Auto V moved since that game's September launch, though the figure is sold-in — meaning units sold to retailers — and not sold-through, which is actual sales to consumers.

Update: Polygon reached out to 2K Sports representatives to clarify their plans for WWE 2K15, listed as releasing in the company's 2015 fiscal year. A year ago at this time, Take-Two had given a specific launch date for WWE 2K14; the series typically launches in late October or early November.

"While we cannot confirm specifics today, WWE 2K15 is traditionally expected to launch in the Fall 2014 timeframe," the representative said, though that still does not rule out a release outside that traditional window. Take-Two's fiscal year concludes March 31.

2K Sports representatives did confirm that Yuke's Future Media Creators, the series' longtime developer, remains on the project. An earlier statement about Visual Concepts, 2K Sports' in house studio, coming to the game had led some to think Yuke's was gone. "Visual Concepts and Yuke's are working collaboratively on WWE 2K15," 2K Sports said.

2K Sports also confirmed that WWE 2K15 will be a PlayStation 4/Xbox One title.