Take-Two strikes out with MLB games

Take-Two has released "preliminary" earnings results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year (ending October 31, 2009), blaming a $.09 a share slump on poor sales of its Major League Baseball games. It seems the publisher might have been misled by the commonly held misconception that baseball is the "national pastime" -- modern warfare has clearly seized that honor. Take-Two didn't specify which MLB titles might have underperformed, but it released The BIGS 2, MLB Front Office Manager, MLB 2K9, and MLB 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars all in 2009, and all to mediocre critical reception.

2K expects to take a $30–35 million loss on its MLB business and further adjusted its financial outlook downward following the BioShock 2 delay. While Borderlands and NBA 2K10 helped generate some revenue last quarter, Take-Two's future doesn't look to be paved in gold. "Looking ahead, we remain committed to our goal of operating profitably on a non-GAAP basis;" CEO Strauss Zelnick said. "However, we do not currently expect to achieve that goal in fiscal 2010. We have an outstanding product portfolio, exceptional creative talent and a solid balance sheet, and are confident that these strengths will provide a sound foundation for improved performance."