Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. posted a larger loss for its fiscal first quarter Tuesday as higher marketing, development and legal costs outweighed stronger sales, but results topped Wall Street expectations.

The company's outlook for the second quarter was weaker, but Take-Two still reiterated its guidance for fiscal 2009.

For the three months ended Jan. 31, the company behind the popular "Grand Theft Auto" series posted a loss of $50.4 million, or 66 cents per share, compared with a loss of $38 million, or 52 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Excluding stock options costs, reorganization expenses and other items, the company's loss totaled 52 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Revenue jumped 7 percent to $256.8 million from $240.4 million, led by "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Carnival Games," among other titles.

Analysts, on average, were expecting a loss of 72 cents per share on sales of $210.5 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.

New York-based Take-Two also noted that GTA IV, the latest version of the hit franchise that is responsible for the bulk of Take-Two's revenue, has shipped more than 13 million copies as of the end of the quarter.

"Looking to the balance of the year, the economy remains challenging and uncertain, and our industry will not be immune to this environment," said Chairman Strauss Zelnick, in a statement. "Consumers will continue to be highly selective in their purchases, including interactive entertainment."

Take-Two paid $20.5 million in internal royalties in the most recent quarter, up from $6.2 million a year earlier.

Shares closed earlier up 79 cents, or 13 percent, at $6.80.