TTWO News & Events

"Game On" is The Fly's weekly recap of the stories powering up or beating down video game stocks.NEW RELEASES:This week's most notable new release is IO Interactive's action-adventure game "007 First Light," which releases for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/Son May 27, with a Nintendo Switch 2version slated for release later this year. Additionally, Nintendo is releasing a photo-doctoring mobile app called "Pictonico" for iOS and Android on May 28.CIRCANA:Last week, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella said that U.S. video game spending totaled $4.3B in April 2026, growing 3% when compared to a year ago. Year-to-date 2026 spending finished the month 5% higher than 2025, at $18.8B. Gains across content and hardware offset declines in accessories. April hardware spending increased by 34% when compared to a year ago, to $261M. Spending on Nintendo Switch 2 hardware offset declines seen across Switch, down 69% versus April 2025, Xbox Series, down 43%, and PlayStation 5, down 30%. Nintendo Switch 2 was again the best-selling hardware platform across both units and dollars for April and 2026 year-to-date, with PlayStation 5 again ranking 2nd across both measures and time periods. After 66 months in market, PlayStation 5's lifetime installed base finished April tracking 2% ahead of PlayStation 4 on a time aligned basis. Nintendo Switch 2 led the sales pace of the original Nintendo Switch by 11%. Nintendo monthly dollar share of video game hardware spending finished April 2026 at its highest point since July 2025.Content spending finished April at $3.8B, growing 2% when compared to a year ago, noted Piscatella. Year-to-date content spending was 3% ahead of 2025's pace, at $16.7B. April spending on Console content was the primary driver of overall content growth as spending increased by 21% compared to a year ago. Subscription spending grew 13% year-on-year, while PC Content was up slightly. Nintendo's "Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream" was the best-selling game of April, delivering over $41M in physical and projected digital spending. "Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream" debuted as the 9th best-selling game of 2026 year-to-date. Helped by "Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream," consumer spending on new physical software grew 44% in April when compared to a year ago, to $96M. Year-to-date spending on new physical software increased by 9%. Capcom's"Pragmata" ranked as the 2nd best-selling game of April 2026. Pragmata was the month's best-seller on PlayStation platforms, placed 2nd on the PC aggregated storefronts chart and ranked 3rd on Xbox. It was among the top 15 sellers of the month on Nintendo platforms.TAKE-TWO:Meanwhile, Take-Tworeported Q4 results last week, with net bookings for the period coming in slightly above expectations, though the company did provide conservative outlooks for Q1 and FY27. Of note, however, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed that the company's highly anticipated game "Grand Theft Auto VI" will release on November 19, 2026. "Our Fiscal 2026 performance was exceptional and exceeded our initial expectations at every label," Zelnick said, "We believe Fiscal 2027 will establish new record levels of operating performance driven by the November 19th launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, along with strong execution across our portfolio. We expect to sustain this higher level of scale, generate strong cash flows, and deliver long-term shareholder value as we release our robust development pipeline, continue to optimize our live services and capitalize on new business opportunities."UBISOFT RESULTS:Ubisoftalso reported Q4 results last week, with the French game maker reporting a 54% year-over-year drop in net bookings for the period. The company noted the comparison to the same period last year, during which "Assassin's Creed Shadows" released, but also confirmed its FY2026-2027 net bookings guidance for a decline in high single digits. "The Group expects a significantly stronger and diversified pipeline of content to come over FY2027-28 & FY2028-29, supported by releases across its major brands including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Ghost Recon as well as an acceleration of its Live services driven by Rainbow Six Siege," Ubisoft said. "In this context, the Group expects to get back to Free Cash Flow generation and positive non-IFRS EBIT in FY2027-28 and generate robust Free Cash Flow in FY2028-29, with positive cumulated Free Cash Flow during the FY2026-27 to FY2028-29 period."SWITCH 2 SALES/OUTPUT:Nintendo's Switch 2 was the top-selling gaming console in Europe in April 2026, with 196,359 units sold, bringing the console's lifetime unit sales in Europe to 4.53M, VGChartz's William D'Angelolast week, citing VGChartz estimates. Meanwhile, Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizukithat the Japanese gaming giant has asked partners and suppliers to make roughly 20M Switch 2 units in the year through March, approximately 20% more consoles than the company guided for earlier this month. The latest output plan is not final and could change based on demand, according to people familiar with the matter.BUNGIE:Sony's Bungiein a statement that it is concluding active development for "Destiny 2," which first launched in 2017 and has had regular content updates ever since. Following the news, Bloomberg's Jason Schreierthat Bungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on "Destiny 2." The company, which also released multiplayer shooter "Marathon" earlier this year, does not have a new project lined up for the development team behind "Destiny 2," and does not plan to immediately begin production on "Destiny 3," Schreier noted.MORE VIDEO GAME NEWS:Embracerannounced thethe group into two publicly listed companies, through the spin-off of Fellowship Entertainment with a listing on Nasdaq Stockholm planned for calendar year 2027Nintendo's "Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream" was the top-selling physical video game in Japan for the week of May 11-17,Microsoft's "Forza Horizon 6" has already sold 5M units,Meanwhile, Microsoft has agreed to pay $250M to settle investor litigation over its massive takeover Activision Blizzard,Hasbrohas canceled a "Dungeons & Dragons" game from independent video game maker Giant Skull,

Stocks closed higher on Friday amid strong earnings and cautious signs of progress toward ending the U.S. conflict with Iran. The Dow advanced to a record high, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 posted their eighth week of gains ahead of the long holiday weekend.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Estee Lauderand Puigannounced that the parties haveregarding a potential business combinationImaxis exploring a sale, according toWorkdayreportedand reiterated its FY27 revenue guidanceZoom Communicationsprovided areport for Q1Deckers Outdoorreportedand provided its outlook for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:JPMorganSweetgreenon ramping brand transformationViking Holdingsto Buy at Truist on strong demand trendsJefferiesGeneracon data center contract potentialSummit Therapeuticsto Neutral at H.C. WainwrightInspire Medicalto Underperform at BofA on coding overhang3. AROUND THE WEB:Nintendoaims to make about 20M Switch 2 consoles in the year through March, Bloomberg reportsMicrosoftagreed to pay $250M to settle investor litigation over its massive takeover Activision Blizzard, Bloomberg saysSony'sBungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on "Destiny 2," Bloomberg saysStarbucksshut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, Reuters saysSamsungis set to distribute about $26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a $340,000 bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal, Bloomberg reports4. MOVERS:Pelotongained afterEnviriin the S&P 600Rocket Labsincreased after completing its ninthGileadwas higher after the FDA approved the company'sFutu Holdingsand UP Fintechfell in New York afterhas launched a broad crackdown on unauthorized cross-border investingImmunityBiodeclined after reportingand presenting preliminary results from a new health economic analysis on that ANKTIVA plus Bacillus Calmette-Guerin5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:BJ's Wholesaleand backed its guidance for FY26 after what CEO Bob Eddy called "a strong first quarter"Take-Two, with EPS missing consensusBooz Allenand provided guidance for FY27Ross Stores, with EPS and revenue beating consensusGlobal Ship Lease, with EPS lower year-over-yearINDEXES:The Dow rose 294.04, or 0.58%, to 50,579.70, the Nasdaq gained 50.87, or 0.19%, to 26,343.97, and the S&P 500 advanced 27.75, or 0.37%, to 7,473.47.

The major averages were broadly higher near noon as markets head toward a weekly gain despite continued volatility. Treasury yields have eased, lifting megacaps and chip stocks, though markets continue to be on watch for signs of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the war in Iran.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Estee Lauderand Puigannounced that the partiesregarding a potential business combinationImaxis exploring a sale, according toWorkdayreportedand reiterated its FY27 revenue guidanceZoom Communicationsprovided areport for Q1Deckers Outdoorreportedand provided its outlook for FY272. WALL STREET CALLS:JPMorganSweetgreenon ramping brand transformationViking Holdingsto Buy at Truist on strong demand trendsJefferiesGeneracon data center contract potentialSummit Therapeuticsto Neutral at H.C. WainwrightInspire Medicalto Underperform at BofA on coding overhang3. AROUND THE WEB:Nintendo's"Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream" was the top-selling physical video game in Japan for the week of May 11-17 with 98,092 copies sold during the week, bringing the game's lifetime sales in Japan to 1.14M, Famitsu reportsSony'sBungie plans to lay off a significant number of workers as it concludes active development on "Destiny 2," Bloomberg saysMicrosoftcommercial chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi, a 35-year company veteran, is set to depart after the next fiscal year according to an internal memo, Business Insider reportsStarbucksshut down an AI program for automating inventory counts, nine months after deploying it, after it frequently miscounted and mislabeled items, Reuters saysSamsungis set to distribute about $26.6B to its 78,000 chip employees, or a $340,000 bonus to each, in early 2027 as part of a last-minute labor union deal, Bloomberg reports4. MOVERS:Pelotongains after beingin the S&P 600Rocket Labsincreases after completing itsfor SynspectiveFutu Holdingsand UP Fintechfall in New York afterChina has launched a broad crackdown on unauthorized cross-border investingCAElower in New York afterand setting long-term financial targets for FY30ImmunityBiodeclines afteron NMIBC and presenting preliminary results from a new health economic analysis on that ANKTIVA plus Bacillus Calmette-Guerin5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:BJ's Wholesaleand backed its guidance for FY26 after what CEO Bob Eddy called "a strong first quarter"Take-Two, with EPS missing consensusBooz Allenand provided guidance for FY27Ross Stores, with EPS and revenue beating consensusGlobal Ship Lease (GSL), with EPS lower year-over-yearINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was up 0.81%, or 408.71, to 50,694.37, the Nasdaq was up 0.63%, or 164.99, to 26,458.08, and the S&P 500 was up 0.66%, or 49.08, to 7,494.80.