GTA 5 for Xbox One and PS4 will appeal to a small subset of next-gen gamers

GTA 5 for Xbox One and PS4 will appeal to a small subset of next-gen gamers


An Xbox One and PS4 release of GTA 5 will not prove as popular, relatively speaking, as the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has said.

"We think that GTA 5 sales were front-end loaded, and a next generation version of the game is unlikely to achieve its historical attach rates," wrote Pachter in a research note relating to Take-Two financial results. "We believe that few gamers who intended to purchase GTA held off their purchases at launch, given that it has as yet to be announced for next-generation consoles."

He added: "We think that the launch of next-generation console version of the game will have great appeal to those next generation console purchasers who have not yet purchased the current generation version, but we think this is a small subset of next generation console purchasers in 2013 - 2014."

Pachter is also rather down on the performance of GTA Online.

"We are also pessimistic that GTA Online will contribute meaningful profits in the next fiscal year," wrote Pachter. "The game is available only to consumers who purchase GTA 5, limiting the addressable market to a fraction of the typical multiplayer audience.

"While it is clear that the game has monetized well, it was only a portion of the $132.8 million in digital revenues Take-Two generated during the quarter. We think it is important to note that Take-Two generated $105.5 million in digital revenue during the prior quarter, suggesting that at most, GTA Online is contributing $27 million per quarter."

Pachter suggests Rockstar must expand the game's audience by "making it free-to-play for all users" to avoiding limiting the revenue and profit potential of the game.

Wedbush Research Note

source:
http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gta5/news/gta_5_for_xbox_one_and_ps4_will_appeal_to_a_small_subset_of_next-gen_gamers.html