Strauss H. Zelnick
Analyst · Eric Handler with MKM Partners
Thanks, Hank. Good afternoon, and thanks for joining us today. I'm pleased to report that Take-Two delivered strong revenue growth and solid non-GAAP earnings for both the fourth quarter and fiscal 2013. These results were driven by robust demand for our new releases, catalog titles and expanding portfolio of digitally delivered offerings. While many in our sector have faced serious challenges, we continue to benefit from a focus on our core strategic values: creativity, innovation and efficiency. During the past year, our world-class creative teams released some of the industry's most captivating and groundbreaking entertainment experiences. Our unwavering commitment to quality enabled our titles to attract and delight audiences time and time again. This results in near-term hits and sustainable catalog value, which create ongoing profits and long-term returns for our shareholders. Fiscal 2013 began with the release of Rockstar Games Max Payne 3. This gritty action-packed third-person shooter received excellent reviews and introduced multiplayer Gameplay for the first time to this popular franchise. The title delivered Rockstar's signature cinematic style of action and storytelling while redefining the genre, with revolutionary advances in targeting and animation. Max Payne 3 is sold in over 4 million units to date and continues to attract new fans. Borderlands 2 remains on track to become the highest selling release in the history of 2K, with approximately 6 million units sold in to date and counting. The title received fantastic reviews, yielding a 90 average Metacritic score and won more than 55 editorial awards. Borderlands 2 was the largest contributor to our digitally delivered revenue last year based on high demand for the game's innovative downloadable add-on content, as well as full game downloads. NBA 2K13 won more than 38 editorial honors, including numerous Sports Game of the Year awards, and quickly became the most profitable sports title in the history of 2K. This is the 12th consecutive year in which we delivered the topped ranked NBA simulation game and the third consecutive release of the franchise to sell in more than 5 million units. The performance of NBA 2K13 has been enhanced by record digital sales for the franchise, including virtual goods. The team at Visual Concepts continues to raise the bar for excellence with each annual release of the series. XCOM: Enemy Unknown reimagines one of the industry's most beloved franchises, as a unique turn-based strategy game. Developed by 2K's Firaxis Games studio, XCOM: Enemy Unknown was one of the highest-rated releases of 2012, achieving a near 90 average Metacritic score and winning an impressive 18 Game of the Year awards. The title has generated particularly strong digitally delivered sales, and it's opened the door for future brand extensions, which Karl will discuss. We wound up the fiscal year with the eagerly anticipated launch of BioShock Infinite, the highest-rated release of 2013 so far, with a terrific 94 average Metacritic score. Critics have universally praised BioShock Infinite, with the Associated Press calling it "a new standard for video game storytelling" and NBC News declaring it "a masterpiece." The title is already a commercial success with over 3.7 million units sold in to date and record first-month sell-through for the franchise. BioShock Infinite will be supported by an array of downloadable add-on content. And we're already seeing solid attach rates for its Season Pass. I'd like to congratulate Ken Levine and the team at Irrational Games, as well as the team at 2K for turning this launch into a major tentpole event for our company and the industry. I'd like to take a moment to commend everyone at 2K for consecutively launching 4 of the past year's most critically acclaimed titles. That's simply an outstanding achievement. It bears noting that since its founding in 2005, 2K has flourished to become a home for some of our industry's top talent and most important franchises. Moreover, 2K's success has played an integral role in our diversification, growth and ability to deliver consistent profits. Our fiscal 2013 results also benefited from robust sales of catalog titles, particularly Rockstar Games' iconic Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption, as well as the profitable release of Major League Baseball 2K13. In addition to delivering stronger financial results, we continue to execute our strategic objectives during the past year. We further diversified our business across distribution channels, expanded our offerings for new platforms and geographies and enhanced our portfolio of industry-leading franchises. We remain keenly judicious and analytical in our approach, mindfully balancing increased risk with increased reward. To that end, we expanded aggressively our digitally delivered offerings for both traditional and emerging platforms, which are contributing significantly to our growth and profitability. Most of our new releases are now available for digital download on the day of launch, and all of our fiscal 2013 AAA releases are being supported by innovative downloadable add-on content. We're also now receiving high-margin revenue from in-game purchases of virtual goods, both in front-line titles such as NBA 2K13 and in mobile and online titles, many of which are free-to-play. During fiscal 2013, we generated record digitally delivered revenue, which accounted for 22% of our total. We broadened our mobile slate with core releases including Max Payne Mobile, Borderlands Legends, NBA 2K13 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Casual releases such as Herd, Herd, Herd and GridBlock and our first mobile social game for Japan, NBA 2K All Stars. We continue to believe that interactive entertainment for mobile platforms, especially tablets, represents an important emerging growth opportunity. And we've numerous projects in our pipeline, some of which Karl will discuss later. We've also made substantial progress developing online games for Asian markets. NBA 2K Online, developed in partnership with Tencent, launched commercially in China in October. Usage and player engagement with the game continue the game momentum. And according to QQ Games, it's now among the top 10 most played PC games in Internet cafés in China. Pro Baseball 2K, developed in partnership with Nexon Corporation, launched commercially in Korea on May 2. The game offers an authentic Korean Pro Baseball simulation experience based on the MLB 2K engine. And finally, we revealed that the massively multiplayer online game that 2K is developing in partnership with XLGAMES is based on our successful Civilization franchise. Civilization Online will release initially in Korea, and production is being led by online gaming luminary, Jake Song. It's one of the most exciting and ambitious online game development initiatives in the region. We're highly enthusiastic about the opportunity for our online projects to augment our core business with a relatively stable, higher-margin revenue stream over time. In February, we acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to publish the popular WWE franchise across all major platforms and distribution channels. We believe there's an untapped opportunity to enhance further the performance of this profitable franchise by leveraging 2K's superb development and marketing resources, which have made our NBA 2K brand an annual hit. WWE is already contributing to our results with WWE 13. I'm pleased to note that 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of Take-Two. And today, our company stands in a stronger position than at any other time in our history. Although we've come very far, we believe that some of our most successful times are ahead. Interactive entertainment is a cyclical business. Our industry appears poised to enter an exciting growth period, driven by the upcoming launches of the next-generation consoles, as well as the increasing popularity of emerging mobile and online platforms. With our world-class creative teams, diverse portfolio of the highest quality franchises in the business, cutting edge technology and strong balance sheet, Take-Two has all of the assets required to capitalize on these opportunities. Fiscal 2014 promises to be one of our best years ever, highlighted by the upcoming launch of Grand Theft Auto V in September. We also have an extraordinary pipeline of titles in development for next-generation platforms, including groundbreaking new intellectual property and releases from our proven franchises. As a result, our current outlook is to be profitable on a non-GAAP basis in fiscal 2015 and for the foreseeable future. I'll now turn the call over to Karl.