• Security researchers observed a new threat campaign dubbed SteelFox
• It uses fake activators and cracks to deploy a vulnerable driver, an infostealer, and a cryptominer
• The victims are found all over the world, from Brazil to China

Hackers are targeting Windows systems with malware that mines cryptocurrencies and steals sensitive information from the devices, experts have warned.

A new report from Kaspersky claims to have spotted tens of thousands of infected endpoints already, as the cybercriminals have started advertising fake cracks and activators for different commercial software, such as Foxit PDF Editor, JetBrains, or AutoCAD.

Roblox is introducing new safety features for children under the age of 13, following criticism of how it protects younger users.

The free online gaming platform, which has around 70 million daily users worldwide, allows players to create their own games and play those made by others.

It is particularly popular with children – but some have complained they have been exposed to upsetting and harmful content on the site.

Starting 3 December, game creators will be asked to say whether their games are suitable for under-13s – with any that fail to do so being blocked for players 12 and younger.

And from 18 November, under-13s will also be barred from accessing “social hangouts”, which are online spaces where players can talk to each other by text and voice.

It specifies hangout experiences as games where “the primary theme or purpose” is to allow people to communicate with each other as themselves, rather than role-playing as a character.

Younger users will also be unable to use “free-form 2D user creation” from the same date, which it said were games “that allow users to draw or write in 2D and replicate those creations to other users without the completed creation going through Roblox moderation”.

It is thought that this is aimed at preventing users writing or drawing offensive images or messages which are difficult to moderate.

“We recognize the deadline is soon, but we greatly appreciate your cooperation in helping us ensure Roblox is a safe and civil place for users of all ages to come together,” it said in a post on the Roblox developer website.

According to the media regulator Ofcom, Roblox is the most popular game in the UK for children aged 8 to 12.

But it has faced criticism over its protections for younger users, with one young person telling the BBC in May he had been approached on Roblox and asked for sexual images.

At the time, Ofcom, the regulator for online safety, told tech firms to hide “toxic” content from children and published draft codes of practice.

Since then there have been further issues, with Turkey entirely blocking access to Roblox in August.

“As a company that’s transparent with our community of developers, we needed to share key information about the upcoming changes prior to launch,” Roblox told the BBC in a statement.

“We’re constantly strengthening our safety systems and policies — we shipped over 30 improvements this year and we have more to come,” it added.

But despite announcing the changes would begin swiftly, it said it would not begin enforcing the requirements until 2025.

Dwayne Johnson will attempt to rescue Santa Claus in his new movie, Red One. Judging by the initial reaction, Johnson probably can’t save the film’s critical reception.

Red One’s review embargo has lifted, and the reception is anything but positive. Red One opened to 35% on Rotten Tomatoes and 37 on Metacritic. Amazon MGM Studios lifting the review embargo on election night speaks volumes. Either the studio wanted to provide a distraction from election coverage, or they knew the initial reception would be negative. The latter is the likely answer.

Red One, a Christmas action comedy, was originally scheduled for a December 2023 release on Prime Video. However, the studio delayed the film to November 2024 and switched its rollout to a theatrical release.

In April, The Wrap published an eye-opening report about Red One’s behind-the-scenes troubles. Johnson was reportedly late, an average of “seven to eight hours per day,” and missed multiple days of production. Additionally, Red One underwent significant reshoots. Add it up, and the budget was raised by at least $50 million, bringing Red One’s total cost to $250 million.

With a massive budget, Red One must be a box office hit for the studio to churn a profit. However, initial tracking pegs the film for a domestic opening weekend of $36 million, which would be a rocky start.

Directed by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’s Jake Kasdan, Red One stars Johnson as Callum Drift, commander of the E.L.F. Drift’s mission is to protect Santa Claus (J. K. Simmons) — code name: RED ONE. After Santa’s abduction, Callum recruits bounty hunter Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans) to help find Saint Nick and save Christmas. Lucy Liu also stars.

Red One opens in theaters on November 15, 2024.

TikTok was recently sued by attorney generals of fourteen different states in the US accusing the platform of harming children. In addition, TikTok is also facing lawsuits by seven families in France accusing the platform of contributing to the suicides of their teenage children. Adding to the existing problems, Canada has now ordered TikTok to shut down all its operations in the country.

Canada orders TikTok to shut down all its business operations in the country

A statement issued by Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Francois-Philippe Champagne reads “The government is taking action to address the specific national security risks related to ByteDance Ltd.’s operations in Canada through the establishment of TikTok Technology Canada, Inc.”

The decision apparently came after a thorough investigation of evidence and information collected over time. Champagne also said that Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners advised to take this step.

Canada has already banned the use of the TikTok app from official government devices. The decision came earlier this year after the US passed a bill to ban TikTok in the country. While doing so, US lawmakers cited that TikTok has become a national security threat given its relationship with China.

Canadian citizens can still use the TikTok app

Although Canada has ordered TikTok to shut down its business operations, it hasn’t banned the use of the app. The Canadian government believes the decision to use a social media app or platform is a personal choice.

Therefore, the government doesn’t want to intervene. A part of Champagne’s statement reads, “The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.” Meanwhile, TikTok has its say following Canada’s recent order.

In a statement, a TikTok representative said, “Shutting down TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone’s best interest, and today’s shutdown order will do just that.” Moreover, TikTok also plans to challenge the Canadian government’s decision in court.

Most microSD cards are fast enough for boosting storage space and making simple file transfers, but some provide a little more value than others. If you’ve got a device that still accepts microSD cards — whether it’s a gaming handheld, a dash cam, a drone or an Android tablet — we’ve scoured the market and put more than a dozen top contenders through a number of benchmark tests. You can find our top recommendations below, alongside some general shopping advice before you grab one.

What to look for in a microSD card

Capacity

The first thing to figure out when buying a microSD card is how much storage space you need. Modern cards are usually available in sizes ranging from 32GB to 512GB, while an increasing number are available in 1TB as well. 2TB cards from reputable manufacturers are getting closer but aren’t widely available just yet.

For most, a 128GB or 256GB model should be the sweet spot between price and storage space. But if you need more room — say, for stashing a bunch of games on a Steam Deck — a 512GB or greater card could make more sense and often provides a better cost-per-GB ratio. These days, you can find a decent 128GB card for around $15 or less, a good 256GB card for less than $30 and a solid 512GB card for less than $40 (though many cost closer to $50 or $60). There’s a starker increase when you go up to 1TB cards, which typically cost closer to $100.

Note that a microSD card’s performance may differ depending on what capacity you buy. SanDisk says its 128GB Extreme card delivers sequential write speeds up to 90 MB/s, for example, while the higher-capacity models in the same line offer up to 130 MB/s.

When we talk about microSD cards today, we usually refer to cards that use the microSDXC (eXtended Capacity) standard, which have a capacity between 32GB and 2TB. Your device needs to support this for it to work with a microSDXC card. This will almost never be an issue these days, but some older devices (a Nintendo 3DS, for instance) are only compatible with microSDHC (High Capacity) cards, which range from 2GB to 32GB.

Read and write speeds

MicroSD cards are primarily judged on their read and write speeds, which are usually measured in megabytes per second (MB/s). Generally, most microSD cards have faster read speeds than write speeds.

These metrics can then be broken down into sequential and random performance. Sequential read and write speeds matter when you’re trying to access or save long, constant streams of data, such as opening a large video or copying a big batch of files from a PC. If you want to use a microSD card for media storage, this is particularly important. Random performance, meanwhile, is about how quickly a card can read and write small files scattered throughout the device.

Since random read/write speeds are much lower than sequential ones, storage device makers tend not to advertise them as loudly. But they’re important if you use a card with a gaming device or a single-board computer like the Raspberry Pi, where it often has to rapidly save and access small bits of data in random locations.

Speed ratings

If you look at a microSD card, you’ll see a buffet of numbers, letters and symbols. Most of these refer to the card’s speed class and performance ratings, which are determined by the SD Association.

A card’s Video Speed Class, or V-rating, details its minimum sequential write speed, which is especially important when recording video from a camera. It ranges from V6 to V90. Most of the cards we tested had a V30 rating, so they have a sequential write speed of at least 30 MB/s. This should be enough to support up to 4K video at lower bitrates. Higher-rated V60 and V90 cards are usually better for capturing 8K, but they come at a much higher cost.

The UHS Speed Class, or U-rating, also refers to a card’s minimum sequential write speed. It comes in two varieties: U3, which mandates a minimum of 30 MB/s, and U1, which is rated for 10 MB/s.

The older Speed Class rating overlaps with the other two systems. It’s signified by a C symbol and goes from Class 2 to Class 10, with the number (again) indicating minimum sequential write speed. This rating is less relevant nowadays, but you may still see a “C10” logo on some cards.

The Application Performance spec, marked by an A symbol, is an indicator of random read/write speeds. This is measured in IOPS, or input/output operations per second, rather than MB/s. There are two categories here: A1 cards offer a minimum random read speed of 1,500 IOPS and a minimum random write speed of 500 IOPS, while A2 cards bump those up to 4,000 IOPS and 2,000 IOPS, respectively. Both ratings also guarantee sequential write speeds of at least 10 MB/s.

To keep it simple, most people should look for a card with V30, U3 and A2 ratings. It’s totally possible to get a solid card without those: A U1 card might be worth it if you just need a cheap, high-capacity option, for example. V60 and V90 cards are worth a look if you’re serious about shooting high-resolution photos and video as well. But overall, cards with the certifications above should provide the best blend of price and performance today.

It’s important to emphasize that these ratings are baselines. Most V30 cards offer significantly higher write speeds than 30 MB/s, for instance, and some A1 cards can outperform some A2 models in practice. The speeds advertised by manufacturers aren’t always 100 percent accurate, either: Sometimes the card will be slower in real-world use, other times it may actually be a bit faster.

UHS bus speeds

The other spec to note is the card’s bus interface. Most microSD cards available today are UHS-I, which have a theoretical maximum speed of 104 MB/s. There are also UHS-II cards, which have an extra row of pins on the back and can reach up to 312 MB/s. (A UHS-III standard exists as well but hasn’t seen wide adoption.) These are labeled on the card with a Roman numeral I or II.

The fastest microSD cards you can buy right now are UHS-II cards, and they’re usually the ones with V60 or V90 ratings. If you shoot lots of 4K to 8K video or frequently use burst mode to capture ultra high-res photos, the performance gains of a good UHS-II card can save you time.

But these are much more expensive than UHS-I cards: This 128GB Lexar Professional Gold model, for instance, is a relative bargain at $40. While that’s less than many UHS-II models we’ve seen in the past, it’s still more than double the typical price of our top pick mentioned below. You need a device that’s compatible with the UHS-II interface to see any benefits, too, and stock for UHS-II cards is generally spottier. For now, the higher speeds aren’t worth the price premium for most people, so we stuck mostly to UHS-I cards here.

We’ll also note Samsung’s announcement earlier this year of a new 256GB microSD card based on an entirely different standard called SD Express. This is theoretically much faster than any UHS-I or UHS-II option: Samsung claims this specific model can reach sequential read speeds up to a whopping 800 MB/s. For context, that’d be quicker than some older SSDs. SD Express has technically been around for several years but hasn’t seen wide adoption, so exactly how this card performs in reality — and how much it’ll cost — remains to be seen. We’ll test the device once it becomes available, which Samsung says will be sometime later in 2024.

A note on card readers, the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck

While the UHS-I spec has a theoretical maximum of 104 MB/s, some UHS-I cards can exceed that speed through proprietary extensions. You need a compatible card reader and host device to take advantage of that extra performance, though. If you find a UHS-I card advertising speeds higher than 104 MB/s, this is what’s going on. You can see these limits in action with a Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck: Both of those gaming devices support the UHS-I interface and don’t go beyond its official speed, flattening any sequential gains some cards may have elsewhere. The broader takeaway: Your microSD card will only be as fast as the slowest link in your chain.

Warranty

Many microSD cards are designed to be durable, with protection from water, extreme temperatures, X-rays and drops. Still, in case of catastrophe, a long warranty is always good to have. Many manufacturers offer lifetime or 10-year limited warranties, though we’ve noticed that “endurance” cards marketed to withstand more hours of writing are usually covered for a shorter period of time. For example, Samsung’s Pro Endurance, a model aimed at security cameras and other monitoring devices, comes with a five-year warranty.

Avoiding counterfeits

The memory card market has had a particular problem with scammers selling fake products. To guard against this, only buy from a known brand and a reputable retailer such as Best Buy, B&H Photo or Adorama. If you shop at Amazon, only buy if the shipper and seller is Amazon.com. (Though a handful of users have reported receiving counterfeits even from Amazon directly in the past.) Remember: If a price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of any retailer offering significantly a lower price than others.

Once you receive a card, check its packaging for any irregularities. You can run benchmark tests like CrystalDiskMark or BlackMagic Disk Speed Test to verify its speeds aren’t drastically lower than what’s advertised (or possible, given its specs). You can also use software that’s designed to verify the true capacity and performance of your card, such as H2testw and FakeFlashTest.

How we tested

We put 13 microSD cards through a series of tests to verify their sequential and random performance. These included benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, BlackMagic Disk Speed Test, ATTO Disk Benchmark and AJA System Test, as well as a few “real-world” tests. We copied and pasted a small folder of photos about 1.15GB in size to and from each card, then did the same with a larger 12.2GB folder containing multiple file types and subfolders, timing the process each time. We also checked how each card performed on the Steam Deck, downloading games of varying sizes — including Stardew Valley, Aperture Desk Job, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Apex Legends — then timing how long it took to launch each game and load save files.

We used a Kingston USB 3.2 UHS-II reader to test each card on both Windows 11 and macOS Sonoma. For the former, we used an Alienware gaming PC with an Intel Core i9-10900F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. For the latter, we used a 2021 16-inch MacBook Pro with an Apple M1 Pro chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. To use our card reader on the MacBook, we used Apple’s USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter.

We tested the 128GB version of each card wherever possible, though for a few cards — SanDisk’s Extreme and Samsung’s Pro Plus and Pro Ultimate — we were only able to test their 256GB models. We also reformatted each card before testing with the SD Association’s Memory Card Formatter tool.

Best microSD cards of 2024

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Storage capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty: 10-year limited

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The Samsung Pro Plus was nearly the fastest card we tested in terms of sequential write performance (around 130 MB/s in CrystalDiskMark) and was a close second in terms of random read/write speeds, so it should work great whether you’re buying for a camera, Android tablet or gaming handheld. Unsurprisingly, it has all the requisite ratings: U3, V30 and A2. Its sequential read performance (around 165 MB/s) isn’t quite as quick as some of the other cards below, so it’s not the absolute fastest for accessing large files stored on your card, but the difference is small in real-world use. 

The main reason the Pro Plus tops our list is because it delivers those strong speeds at a relatively affordable price. The card originally started at $19 for 128GB, $30 for 256GB and $60 for 512GB, but past sales have brought those models as low as $11, $18 and $29, respectively. When it’s that cheap, the Pro Plus makes most competing microSD cards redundant. Samsung also sells the card with a USB reader that’ll help it reach its maximum speeds for a few dollars more. If you need more space, there’s also a 1TB model that should be just as fast, though that one is currently much more expensive at $110. Either way, the card comes with a 10-year limited warranty.

If you opt to buy the Pro Plus, make sure you get the latest-generation model. Samsung is still selling the prior iteration of the Pro Plus, which looks identical but isn’t as quick. Instead, opt for the one with sequential read speeds rated at 180 MB/s and sequential write speeds rated at 130 MB/s. We tested the 256GB version of the newer Pro Plus due to stock issues with the 128GB model at the time of testing, but this shouldn’t have a major impact on real-world performance, as Samsung rates both cards identically. 

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Pros

• Consistently quick sequential and random read/write performance
• Great value
• Readily available at trusted retailers
• Has a 1TB option

Cons

• Some peers have slightly faster sequential read speeds

$21 at Amazon (128GB)

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Storage capacity: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty: 10-year limited

The Samsung Pro Ultimate is a step-up model in Samsung’s microSD lineup and, as expected, it’s a little bit faster than the Pro Plus across the board. Its biggest gains are in sequential read speeds, which were the fastest we tested and averaged close to Samsung’s advertised rate rate of 200 MB/s across our various benchmarks. You’ll need to buy the card with Samsung’s USB reader to achieve that performance, but that could be worth it if you regularly move files from your microSD card to a PC. The Pro Ultimate technically led the pack when it came to sequential write and random read/write speeds as well, though the margins there are much less significant compared to the Pro Plus and the other top UHS-I cards we tested.

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The main question is cost. If you see the Pro Ultimate available for the same price as the Pro Plus, you might as well grab it instead. It comes with the same 10-year warranty and should be similarly durable. Past discounts have brought the 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models as low as $15, $25 and $45, respectively; that’s still affordable, but the Pro Plus will almost always be a little bit cheaper — and thus a better value for most needs, especially at higher capacities. There’s no 1TB option here, either. 

Pros

• Fastest microSD card we tested (with appropriate USB reader)
• Easily available at trusted retailers

Cons

• Pro Plus is better value for most
• No 1TB model

$22 at Samsung Electronics

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

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Storage capacity: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 | Warranty: Lifetime limited

If the Samsung Pro Plus ever jumps too high in price or becomes unavailable, the Kingston Canvas Go Plus is another strong alternative. This is a U3-, V30- and A2-rated card backed by a lifetime limited warranty. Its sequential read speeds trailed only the Samsung Pro Ultimate across CrystalDiskMark, ATTO and the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test. It effectively tied with SanDisk’s Extreme and Nintendo Switch-branded cards in our large file transfer speeds test. Sequential write speeds (just over 100 MB/s on CrystalDiskMark) are where it lags behind the Pro Plus, but they should still be quick enough for many uses. Its random read/write speeds were only bested by Samsung’s Pro cards in benchmarks, so it’s still a good option for apps and games. The 1TB version is also $20 cheaper than the equivalent Pro Plus, so it should be a decent value if you need lots of space and want to save cash. But the other models are hard to justify if you see them hovering in the same price range as our picks above.

Pros

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• Faster sequential write speeds than Pro Plus for a (typically) lower price than Pro Ultimate
• Lifetime limited warranty
• Has a 1TB option

Cons

• Pro Plus is usually a better value for most
• Slower sequential write speeds than picks above

$17 at B&H Photo (128GB)

Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget

Storage capacity: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB (“new generation” model only) | Speed classes: U3, V30, A2, Class 10 / (64GB) U1, V10, A1, Class 10 | Warranty: 10-year limited

The Samsung Evo Select is a clear step behind our top picks, particularly when it comes to sequential write speeds (just under 70 MB/s on CrystalDiskMark), so it’s not ideal for cameras. Still, it’s perfectly usable for many use cases — a Nintendo Switch, for instance — and we’ve previously seen its 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models fall as low as $10, $14 and $25, respectively. All of those are about on par with the SanDisk Ultra, an oft-recommended cheapo card, despite the Evo Select having higher V30, U3 and A2 ratings. While the Pro Plus has come close to those prices, the Evo Select almost always retails for less.

Similar to the Pro Plus, you can now find two versions of the Evo Select: a “standard” model with sequential read speeds rated at 130 MB/s, and a “new generation” model that bumps that spec up to 160 MB/s. Since the point of this recommendation is to give you a card that performs well enough for as little as possible, you should get whichever one is cheaper in the capacity you want. The new model did indeed deliver those improved reads in our benchmarks, but it performs just about identically otherwise, so you won’t lose much by saving a few bucks with the older generation. 

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The one big difference is that the updated model is the only one available in a 1TB capacity; we haven’t tested that specific model, but at $80-ish it should be worth a look if pricing is your only concern. 

Pros

• Often available for lower price than Pro Plus
• Solid performance if you just want an acceptable card for cheap
• Has a 1TB option

Cons

• Slower than picks above, particularly in sequential write and random performance benchmarks

$15 at Amazon

Other notable microSD cards

Delkin Devices Power

We didn’t use it ourselves, but if you’re willing to pay for a more powerful UHS-II card built for heavy-duty video recording, the Delkin Devices Power has tested well elsewhere and should deliver significantly faster sequential write speeds than our picks above. It’s one of the few UHS-II cards we could actually find in stock, but it costs a ton, with a 128GB model normally priced around $90.

SanDisk Extreme

The SanDisk Extreme effectively matched the Pro Plus in a few of our sequential write tests and delivered sequential reads about on par with the Canvas Go Plus, but that was partly due to us only being able to secure the card’s 256GB model, which is higher-rated than the 128GB version. It’s a fine choice if you see it on sale at a reputable seller, but its random performance lagged behind the Samsung Pro and Kingston cards, and it often costs more.

SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch

The SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch is another decent option if you ever see it available for less than the Pro Plus and Canvas Go Plus. Its sequential read speeds were about the same as the latter in our benchmarks, but its sequential writes were slightly slower (and farther behind the Pro Plus). Its random read/writes were a bit behind according to CrystalDiskMark as well, and it’s often priced higher than our top pick. SanDisk backs the card with a lifetime warranty, however, plus it’s available in a 1TB capacity. Note that we tested the Apex Legends version of the 128GB card; SanDisk also sells a Super Mario model, but we can’t say if that one performs any differently.

Lexar Professional 1066x

Similarly, the Lexar Professional 1066x is a decent alternative to the Pro Plus if our main picks are unavailable. It’s another V30, U3 and A2 model, and like Samsung’s card, its sequential write speeds were a bit faster than the Canvas Go Plus and SanDisk Switch card in our benchmarks. Those write speeds weren’t as quick as the Pro Plus, and its sequential reads trailed all three cards. Random read/writes also lagged behind the Pro Plus and Canvas Go Plus, and we noticed its speeds peak and dip more noticeably in our file transfer test. Still, it’s not slow, so depending on its price, it might be a good bargain if you need fast write speeds for video recording and the like. It’s also available in 1TB, plus it comes with a lifetime limited warranty.

SanDisk Extreme Pro

The SanDisk Extreme Pro is a rival to the Samsung Pro Ultimate but, as of this writing, is either unavailable at most trusted retailers or priced too high by comparison.

PNY Elite-X

The PNY Elite-X often goes for cheap and wasn’t too far off the random read/write performance of Samsung’s Pro cards in CrystalDiskMark, but it was well behind in our sequential tests.

Recent updates

November 2024: We’ve checked back with this guide to ensure our recommendations are still accurate and made light edits for clarity.

August 2024: We’ve updated this guide to note the recently released 1TB models for three of our top picks: the Samsung Pro Plus, the Kingston Canvas Go Plus and the Samsung Evo Select. We’ve also made sure all pricing details are as up to date as they can be.

Take-Two Interactive Software reported that its net bookings hit $1.47 billion in the fiscal second quarter ended September 30, up 2% from $1.44 billion a year ago.

The bookings growth was driven by sales of the Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands franchises, and the company reiterated its out look for net bookings for the year ending March 31, 2025. On a non-GAAP basis, Take-Two said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA, a key measure of profitability) was a loss of $75.5 million in the quarter.

All eyes are on Take-Two, as Rockstar Games on schedule to publish Grand Theft Auto VI in the fall of next year, about 13 years after the debut of Grand Theft Auto V, which has now sold 205 million copies. Take-Two’s stock is up 3% to $173 a share in after-hours trading.

“I am pleased to report that we delivered strong second quarter results,” said Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, in a statement. “Our net bookings of $1.47 billion were at the top of our guidance range, driven by the continued success of the Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands franchises, and our operating results
surpassed our plans, largely due to a shift in the timing of marketing expenses within the year.”

Zelnick added, “Our execution has been consistent, and our teams continue to make great progress advancing our development pipeline. Accordingly, we are reiterating our fiscal year 2025 net bookings guidance range of $5.55 to $5.65 billion, and we are confident that we will achieve sequential increases and record levels of Net Bookings in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.”

And he said, “As we look ahead, we believe that Take-Two remains exceedingly well-positioned for the long-term. Our vision is clear, our talent is unparalleled, and we have one of the strongest portfolios of owned intellectual property in our industry. With many exciting new titles coming in Fiscal 2026 – including Grand Theft Auto VI in the fall, Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country – we expect to create long-term value for our shareholders.”

During the quarter, the company said it sold the Private Division label, which focuses on third-party original indie titles. But it did not name the buyer.

The $1.47 billion in bookings were at the top of the guidance range.

In other details, net bookings from recurrent consumer spending grew 6% and accounted for 81% of total net bookings in the quarter. The largest contributors to net bookings were NBA 2K25 and NBA 2K24, Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online.

In the more casual/mobile games, Take-Two said the quarter benefited from sales for Toon Blast, the hyper-casual mobile portfolio, and Zynga’s titles including Match Factory!, Empires & Puzzles, Words With Friends and Toy Blast.

Recurrent consumer spending is generated from ongoing consumer engagement and includes virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases and in-game advertising.

Net bookings is Take-Two’s operational metric and defined as the net amount of products and services sold digitally or sold-in physically during the period, and includes licensing fees, merchandise, in-game advertising, strategy guides and publisher incentives.

On a GAAP accounting basis, net revenue increased 4% to $1.35 billion, as compared to $1.30 billion in last year’s fiscal second quarter. Recurrent consumer spending increased 8% and accounted for 80% of total GAAP net revenue.

On a GAAP basis, the net loss was $365.5 million, or $2.08 per share, as compared to $543.6 million, or $3.20 per share, for the comparable period last year.

Outlook

For the third fiscal quarter ending December 31, the company expects net bookings to be $1.35 billion to $1.4 billion, and non-GAAP EBITDA to be $78 million to $100 million.

For the GAAP fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, Take-Two expects net revenue to be $5.57 billion to $5.67 billion. The GAAP net loss is expected to be $775 million to $839 million, while non-GAAP EBITDA is expected to be $282 million to $336 million.

The largest contributors to net bookings are expected to be NBA 2K, the Grand Theft Auto series, Toon Blast, our hyper-casual mobile portfolio, Match Factory, Empires & Puzzles, the Red Dead Redemption series, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, and Words with Friends.

The net bookings outlook is expected to be in a range of $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion, which represents 5% growth over FY24.

Take-Two now expect RCS to grow approximately 4%, representing 78% of Net Bookings. This is up slightly from the prior forecast of 3%, driven by NBA 2K. The RCS forecast continues to assume a high single digit increase for mobile, driven by Match Factory and Toon Blast, partially offset by declines in the hyper-casual mobile portfolio and Empires and Puzzles. NBA 2K is expected to grow low single digits, which is up from the prior forecast of flat, while Grand Theft Auto Online is still expected to decline.

Take-Two project the net bookings from labels to be roughly 51% Zynga, 32% 2K, and 17% Rockstar Games. The company forecasts geographic net bookings split to be about 60% United States and 40% International. Non-GAAP Adjusted Unrestricted Operating Cash Flow is expected to be an outflow of $150 million, which is unchanged from the prior forecast, and the company remains on track to deploy approximately $140 million of capital expenditures, primarily for game technology and office buildouts.

The outlook assumes a continuation of the current economic backdrop.

Game information

Since July 1, Take-Two released Zynga’s Game of Thrones Legends on mobile and NBA 2K25 on the consoles and PC. In the near future, releases include Sid Meier’s Civilization VII on the console and PC on February 11, 2025. GTA VI doesn’t have a specific launch date other than the fall of calendar 2025.

2K will publish WWE 2K25 in the March 2025 quarter. Borderlands fall is coming in the year ending March 31, 2026, as is 2K’s Mafia: The Old Country. Zynga’s CSR Racing 3 will come out on mobile at some time in the future, as will Ghost Story Games’ Judas.

The slight increase in net bookings was largely driven by a modest increase in net bookings, as well as mix of business. In the period, 82% of console game sales were delivered digitally, up from 75% last year. Catalog accounted for $366.1 million (48.7% of non-mobile net bookings). Take-Two has 37 titles in the works through March 31, 2027.

Rockstar Games

Sales of Grand Theft Auto V outperformed expectations and, to date, the title has sold-in more than 205 million units worldwide. Grand Theft Auto Online also exceeded plans, driven by sustained engagement with the Summer content pack Bottom Dollar Bounties, and an array of updates.

Momentum also continued within GTA+, as Rockstar grew its membership by 35% over last year, and added the classic title, Bully, to the library of available games.

Red Dead Redemption 2 posted another good quarter. The title has sold-in more than 67 million units to-date and, six years after its release, still ranks in the top ten for unit sales globally, according to GSD. Rockstar Games was pleased to expand its audience further with the successful launch of Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare for PC on October 29.

2K

On September 6, 2K and Visual Concepts launched NBA 2K25, which scored among the highest ratings on new generation consoles in recent franchise history.

The game has 9,000 new ProPLAY animations that provide increased authenticity; an all-new dribble engine, representing the biggest technological update in the series’ 26-year history; and a more interactive and engaging experience in The City.

To-date, the title has sold-in nearly 4.5 million units and achieved phenomenal RCS performance, the company said. Compared to NBA 2K24 for the same period last year, NBA 2K25 delivered meaningful double-digit growth in average revenue per user and 40% growth in average games per user.

2K’s catalog also outperformed, led by the popular Borderlands franchise. Now that Gearbox has officially joined the 2K and Take-Two family, Take-Two said it is eager to capitalize on the many potential growth opportunities for Borderlands, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, and other Gearbox titles.

Zynga

Zynga delivered another quarter of solid results. Match Factory is scaling rapidly and is on track to become Zynga’s second largest title by the end of this year in terms of projected annual net bookings. The title grew approximately 16% over last quarter, driven by its engaging gameplay, including the recent Star Race bold beat, and our strategic investments in user acquisition.

Toon Blast is maintaining its fantastic path of growth, with Net Bookings increasing more than 50% over last year, as our teams deploy highly engaging new features, including new single player and team based events and social challenges.

The blended monetization efforts in hyper-casual are advancing well. In particular, Screw Jam remains a top fifty game in the U.S. Apple App Store. Nordeus released the highly anticipated 2025 edition of the popular soccer manager game, Top Eleven. Backed by a month-long marketing campaign, the release generated positive sentiment around the community, which helped solidify the largest in-app purchase spending per active user in the game’s 14-year history.

During the quarter, Zynga launched Game of Thrones: Legends, and Take-Two is excited about the label’s future mobile launches, including CSR 3 – Street Car Racing.

Private Division

Take-Two said it made the strategic decision to sell the Private Division label (aimed at third-party indie game publishing) to focus resources on growing its core and mobile businesses for the long-term. As part of this transaction, the buyer purchased the rights to substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles.

Take-Two will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked, which launched in early access on PC in April.
The company said it is grateful for the contributions that the Private Division team has made to its company and is confident that Private Division will continue to achieve success in its new home.

As for the number of employees, Take-Two closed the September 30 quarter with 13,077 people, including 10,273 in-house development studio staff. Those numbers were up, respectively,by 110 jobs and 125 jobs. About 22% of staff were in low-cost locations (India, China, Turkey, Serbia, Chile, and Hungary).

Strauss Zelnick interview

I asked if the U.S. presidential election would have an effect on Take-Two’s future or perhaps gaming’s future.

Zelnick said, “We’re an entertainment company. We’re focused on entertainment, not politics. I’m really excited about our future.

Asked about the decision to sell Private Division and if it was a tough time for original intellectual property, Zelnick said, “I think it’s always a tough time for new IP. We beat the risk in Private Division, and that risk was based on a thesis that there were a lot of great independent creators out there we could work with and perhaps build some massive franchises within that division.”

He added, “The team did a great job, led by Michael Worosz. Virtually everything that they invested in did well, and Outer Worlds did really, really, really well. But nothing, nothing broke out to the level of one of the core intellectual properties at 2K or Rockstar, and our real mission and vision is to make the biggest hits in the entertainment system. That’s what we do. We do that in mobile. We do that in content.”

That led to the decision to divest.

Zelnick said Rockstar hasn’t announced a new GTA Online for GTA 6, and he said the labels make such announcements. But he noted that the company doesn’t necessarily have to sunset prior iterations in online as it launches brand new titles. As an example, in China, NBA 2K Online coexists with NBA 2K Online 2.

Regarding the Nintendo talk about about backward compatibility for Switch games, Zelnick said, “I’m always optimistic when people are investing in the business and seeking to innovate.” A spokesman added that the company is always happy with platforms that offer backward compatibility, given the strength of Take-Two’s catalog. In an analyst call, Zelnick said, “Never count Nintendo out.”

As for layoffs across gaming, Zelnick said, “I think that most companies have gotten to whatever restructuring they needed to do. And as you know, the industry is going once again, and I think it will remain the fastest growing part of the entertainment business for some time to come.”

Since Take-Two capitalizes its costs, Rockstar’s spending on GTA 6 shows up on the balance sheet for now, and the company expects to incur marketing fees around the launch, said Hannah Sage, EVP of finance and chief accounting officer, in an interview with GamesBeat. She said the company largely hit its financial targets.

Regarding Borderlands movie, Zelnick said in an analyst call that it was disappointing and the results were not material to Take-Two’s financials and so it did not break them out. The box office was $31 million, with costs above $110 million. He said it drove some incremental game sales.