Take-Two CEO: I’d argue Rockstar has been putting out a new GTA a couple of times a year
We asked Strauss Zelnick where he felt industry growth was going to come from
It’s bonus Newsletter time! We had a chat with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick following the release of the firm’s latest financial results. Enjoy.
Take-Two reported a plethora of impressive numbers in its fiscal 2025 results. NBA did well, GTA Online did well, Red Dead Online, Zynga, WWE… you get it. There were plenty of positive stories from the last financial year for the company.
Looking ahead, even without Grand Theft Auto 6, 2026 is a busy one for Take-Two. It has big new games in the Borderlands and Mafia franchises due in August and September, and it’s supporting Nintendo Switch 2 with four games within the console’s launch window.
Yet it’s the longer-term that Take-Two is most excited about. And it believes its 2027 financial year, which will include Grand Theft Auto VI, will be an inflection point for the company.
After its latest results, The Game Business caught up with CEO Strauss Zelnick to discuss the year ahead, the opportunity with Netflix, Nintendo Switch 2 and where growth might come from in the future.
Why was it important to set a full release date for GTA 6 so far in advance?
Generally, when we set a specific date, that ends up being the date.
Were you conscious of the wider industry needing some clarity around when the game was going to land? It had been a very big topic in the industry.
I love that there’s that speculation going on. It’s flattering. The point is that, in the context of a delay which is going to disappoint people, we thought it was important to reassure people that it is coming, and picking a specific date emphasises that point.
Well, I suspect the industry appreciates having that clarity, even if it wasn’t done for that reason.
No-one has sent me any flowers.
By the time GTA 6 launches, it will be nearly eight years since we had a fully original Rockstar game. It’s been six years since the last mainline Borderlands. Quality takes time, of course. But how comfortable are you in the length of time these console and PC games are taking to build?
Remember, back in the good old days, or the bad old days depending how you look at it. We would work on a title, release the title, hope for the best, and then make another title. Now we have the opportunity for consumers to engage on an on-going basis with our hits. Be that through downloadable add-on content, or through multiplayer versions of those games.
In the case of Grand Theft Auto, we have Grand Theft Auto Online, and Rockstar has been supplying content to Grand Theft Auto Online, some of which is so robust that if you go back 15 years, it would have counted as a standalone title. One could really argue that Rockstar has been putting out a new Grand Theft Auto release a couple of times a year. Same thing holds true for Red Dead Online, which has been on-going. And in the most recent quarter, Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online has exceeded expectations.
Similarly, NBA 2K now has an online component that has extended the period of engagement from what used to be three months to basically 12 months. The same thing holds true to WWE 2K.
Our strategy is when we give consumers a hit, they would like to stay engaged. And that requires our teams to create more content quite properly, to support that content and to market that content. The business has become a worldwide, on-going business. I would argue that Rockstar is delivering to its consumer base daily, and it has been doing that for quite some time, basically since 2014.
The motivation behind that question was really around how expensive games are to make today. Is there much of a focus or imperative within Take-Two to speed up dev cycles and reduce costs?
You’re right the topline dev costs for a flagship title have gone up. But if you amortise that cost across all of the content that is released for a title, I suspect that on a real basis it’s actually gone down. Because the most expensive part of development is that initial big release. Then the cost of supporting that title thereafter, from a dev point-of-view and from a marketing point-of-view, is much, much, much more moderate.
“Topline dev costs for a flagship title have gone up. But if you amortise that cost across all the content that is released for a title, I suspect that on a real basis it’s actually gone down”
We’re seeing the US tariffs having an impact on the price of gaming hardware. Xbox has just increased the pricing on its machines. Are you concerned about the affordability of the current console generation?
I think it would be better if there were no tariffs pushing up console pricing. Certainly consumers are price sensitive. Certainly we in the industry benefit from a broader install base.
Perhaps related to that. What are your expectations for Nintendo Switch 2? How are you feeling about it?
We feel really good about it. But it always remains to be seen. We’re offering more on launch support than ever before for a Nintendo platform. We’ve announced four titles for Switch 2. It remains to be seen how it does, but I am a big believer.
Third-party games often find it harder to succeed on Nintendo platforms…
That is true. Historically, Nintendo has done a better and more supportive job with first-party titles. But I think they are aiming to change that. And we have basically risen to the challenge and opportunity, and we’ll see how it goes. We voted with our feet. Nintendo has asked us to be supportive, and we do believe we’re doing that. Now we will see what happens.
“Historically, Nintendo has done a more supportive job with first-party titles. But I think they are aiming to change that.”
You already have a direct-to-consumer offering on mobile even before Apple’s recent courtroom defeat. But are you looking to capitalise further now you can do more in terms of engaging consumers on iOS?
We launched a direct-to-consumer initiative on mobile right after purchasing Zynga. It is now a material part of our business. I’ve also been saying for years that I expected that third-party distribution costs would decline, and that the whole market would open up, and I think that’s what’s happening now. And that’s a good thing for us and more importantly a good thing for consumers.
But do you anticipate the new changes that you can implement now [as a result of the ruling] will have a significant and material impact on your business in the near term?
I do think that the impact will be positive, yes. And significant.
“Growth always comes from hits. That’s our job. Make the best hits, make the biggest hits, serve consumers. The industry may be having a growth challenge, but do you know who isn’t? Take-Two.”
Sticking with mobile. You’re partnering with Netflix for WWE 2K. You already had some big success on Netflix with GTA. What’s your view on the opportunity offered by Netflix in the video game space?
They’re a great partner. They have a massive subscriber base, which is growing rapidly. They are incredibly ambitious. They have properly realised that interactive entertainment is the fastest growing part of the entertainment business, and their subscribers are interested in interactive entertainment. The partnership has been hugely beneficial. We’re big supporters and believers.
Do you see them as a means to unlock new players, or more a way to re-engage or engage with existing gamers?
Broader distribution is always good for entertainment. Always. You want to be where the consumer is. You don’t want to be religious about it, or provincial about it. You have to be where the consumer is.
Finally, the video game industry has had a growth problem in recent years. Where do you see growth coming from?
Hits. Growth always comes from hits. That’s our job. Make the best hits, make the biggest hits, serve consumers. The industry may be having a growth challenge, but do you know who is not having a growth challenge? Take-Two Interactive Software. Our aim is to be the most creative, the most innovative and most efficient company in the entertainment business. Today, I believe our equity market capitalisation among all pure play entertainment companies of any type is number five worldwide And not just interactive entertainment companies. We started a long time ago as a tiny little speck of dust in the business. We’ve done a whole lot better than that, and the reason we’ve done better, for which we’re grateful, is that all we care about is making the best possible entertainment.
Come join us in LA for The Game Business Live
Leading names from across the video game industry are coming together in Los Angeles next month for The Game Business Live.
Our morning event, where we will be recording six episodes of The Game Business Show, will take place at The GRAMMY Museum within LA Live on Monday, June 9. Holders of the Summer Game Fest Industry Ticket automatically get into the event, but we also have free tickets available for The Game Business readers.
You can apply for those right here.
Speakers at the event include: Leslie Benzies [Game Director, Build A Rocket Boy], Lisa Burgess [GM, Netflix], John Hight [President, Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming at Hasbro], Pete Wanat [President of Interactive Technology, AGBO] Mat Piscatella [Executive Director, Circana], Peiwen Yao [VP and Executive Director, Blizzard] and Shannon Williams [Senior Director of Mobile, Blizzard]. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming days.
More details on the event can be found here.
"Take-Two reported a plethora of impressive numbers in its fiscal 2025 results. NBA did well, GTA Online did well, Red Dead Online, Zynga, WWE… you get it. There were plenty of positive stories from the last financial year for the company."
Is it a joke? They have lost 4 billions in the last fiscal year. Their purchase of Zynga is a disaster.
"Hits. Growth always comes from hits." You can't really argue against that when GTA 5 is continuing to sell 5 million copies every 3 months 🤯