Take-Two Interactive filed a Form 10-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, revealing that its minimum annual contractual obligations and commitments for marketing for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 will be over $89 million.

This is a very significant and odd change. According to investment analyst Jeff Cohen (via VentureBeat), the spike in marketing expenses could be a sign that "Grand Theft Auto 6" will be released in 2023.

"I'm not sure how much to read into this change, but I note that this disclosure accurately predicted its launch before the announcement of 'Red Dead Redemption 2,'" Cohen said in a note to investors. [Cohen also noted that Take-Two "speaks very confidently about its pipeline for the next five years," referring to the publisher's statement at last week's earnings call that it plans to release 93 "full games" over the next five years. Take-Two acknowledged at the time that some of these games would be cancelled, while others would be added to the list, but it is clear that this number is not mere speculation, given the specifics of the breakdown, including 63 core games and 47 existing game series.

It seems likely that "Grand Theft Auto 6" will be included somewhere in these 93 games, and even if the marketing costs jump up sharply, 2023 seems like a good bet: it is the 10th anniversary of the release of "Grand Theft Auto 5," which is a kind of good It would be a tie-in, and delaying it that long means that the upcoming next-generation console will have enough time to establish its user base. [Also, as VentureBeat pointed out, there is no need for Rockstar to rush the release of the new "GTA. Grand Theft Auto 5" still reigns as Steam's top game, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said on last week's earnings call that "GTA Online" continues to be "the best performer in both player numbers and net pre-orders" despite its age

Update: "GTA Online continues to be one of the best performing games in the world.

Update: A Take-Two representative told VentureBeat that the relevant figures in the Form 10-K filing are marketing commitments to third-party companies and do not reflect the budgets of internal studios such as Rockstar, and therefore are not an indicator of the 2023 release of GTA6 He stated that they are not indicative.