Take-Two sales higher than expected thanks to NBA, XCOM

Zynga isn't the only video game publisher good news for its investors today. Take two ended its October through December, 2012 quarter (the third on its fiscal calendar) reporting revenues of $415.8 million. Not only is this a significant bump from the $236.3 million it reported last year, it's also more than the $363.9 million average that Wall Street analysts were anticipating. The company attributed the jump mainly to sales of NBA 2K13, the latest in what has become a very successful series of basketball simulations. The company says it has sold 4.5 million copies worldwide, a franchise record. Other game that did well for the company included quarter debut XCOM: Enemy Unknown, the continued sales of Borderlands 2, and continued catalog sales of ever-popular titles including Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption. In fact, catalog titles make up a surprising amount of the publisher's sales. During the fourth quarter, 22% of Take-Two's sales came from these older games. In all, the company says that it made $71.4 million in profit during the quarter, up from $14.1 million during the same period a year ago.