Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced that it has revised its fourth quarter publishing schedule as a result of the tragic events that occurred September 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Take-Two's corporate headquarters, which are located in downtown Manhattan, reopened for business on Monday, September 17, 2001 after being closed for four business days, although the company continues to experience disruptions in telecommunications and network services. Paul Eibeler, president, stated, "Due to the interruption in our business, the company's product development, testing and quality control operations were disrupted and we are working aggressively to return to normal operations. Additionally, in light of the tragedies that occurred last week, we believe it is appropriate to change certain content in our games. As a result of these unfortunate events, we are revising our product release schedule." GRAND THEFT AUTO 3 and SMUGGLER'S RUN 2, which contained content that the company deemed inappropriate given recent events, in particular references to New York City and Afghanistan, were originally planned for release on PlayStation2 this month. As a result of the necessary content changes in these two games, the release of both products will be delayed until the second half of October, which will result in reduced sales of these products. The business interruption and additional time and resources required to revise these two games has also resulted in a delay in the release of MAX PAYNE for PlayStation2, which was originally scheduled to ship at the end of the fiscal fourth quarter. The game is now anticipated to be released early in the company's first quarter of fiscal 2002. Therefore, Take-Twos current financial guidance for the fourth quarter ending October 31, 2001 is being revised to $142 million in net revenue and $0.25 in fully diluted earnings per share. However, the company expects the delays in its fiscal 2001 product release schedule to impact its results for fiscal 2002 positively and will provide further guidance for its fiscal 2002 operating results at a later date. The company believes that although its short term operating results will be negatively impacted, its financial condition remains strong and it has adequate capital resources to fund operations and its upcoming release schedule, including such highly anticipated titles as DUKE NUKEM FOREVER, MAFIA, STATE OF EMERGENCY, CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH, HIDDEN & DANGEROUS, MIDNIGHT CLUB 2 and MAX PAYNE.
