Take-Two CEO's WSJ Interview: What Zelnick Said About GTA 6

Two weeks before GTA 6 comes out, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick went on stage with The Wall Street Journal. One question went viral: does Take-Two have enough hits apart from GTA 6?Reported1. Luke Stephens LIVE — The Embarassing Strauss Zelnick GTA 6 Interview From WSJ - Luke Reacts2. gtaboom.com — What Strauss Zelnick Really Said When WSJ Pressed Take-Two on GTA 63. thegamer.com — Strauss Zelnick Reacts To The Idea That GTA 6 Is Take-Two's First "Big Hit"4. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two CEO Faces Bizarre Question Over Company’s Lack of ‘Enough Hits’5. ixbt.games — “Examine the facts”: Take-Two CEO harshly shuts down journalist ahead of GTA VI releaseand 2 more Zelnick told the interviewer to look at the facts. He listed 15 franchises that have each sold more than 5 million copies of a single release.

The interview took place at WSJ Tech: California in Napa Valley on November 4Reported2. gtaboom.com — What Strauss Zelnick Really Said When WSJ Pressed Take-Two on GTA 6. Jessica Toonkel of the Journal asked about GTA 6, the budget, AI and Take-Two's strategy. Here is what Zelnick said and what it means for the game.

Quick answers

The CEO Behind Grand Theft Auto VI at WSJ Tech | WSJPlays from YouTube when you press play

The "not enough hits" moment

This is the clip everyone is sharing. Toonkel suggested that Take-Two doesn't have enough hit games outside GTA 6Reported1. Luke Stephens LIVE — The Embarassing Strauss Zelnick GTA 6 Interview From WSJ - Luke Reacts2. gtaboom.com — What Strauss Zelnick Really Said When WSJ Pressed Take-Two on GTA 63. thegamer.com — Strauss Zelnick Reacts To The Idea That GTA 6 Is Take-Two's First "Big Hit"4. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two CEO Faces Bizarre Question Over Company’s Lack of ‘Enough Hits’5. ixbt.games — “Examine the facts”: Take-Two CEO harshly shuts down journalist ahead of GTA VI release. Zelnick disagreed firmly. He said the company owns the best collection of intellectual property in video games. To back that up, he pointed to its 15 franchises with more than 5 million copies sold for a single release.

He then listed some of them:

• Red Dead Redemption, which he said has sold more than 65 million copies
• GTA Online and Red Dead Online
• NBA 2K, which he called the second-biggest sports game in the world and the biggest in North America
• WWE 2K, BioShock, Borderlands and Civilization
• Mobile games like Words With Friends and Empires & Puzzles

He added that this shows in Take-Two's revenue, profits and market value. GTA 5 alone has sold more than 200 million copies, according to reportsReported7. gamebyte.com — Take-Two CEO hits back after WSJ suggests GTA 6 is its only big hit. One outlet called the question bafflingSpeculation3. thegamer.com — Strauss Zelnick Reacts To The Idea That GTA 6 Is Take-Two's First "Big Hit". Take-Two's stock was more than 20% below its record high at the time, thoughReported2. gtaboom.com — What Strauss Zelnick Really Said When WSJ Pressed Take-Two on GTA 6. Zelnick said he'd rather talk about the company's fundamentals than argue about the share priceReported2. gtaboom.com — What Strauss Zelnick Really Said When WSJ Pressed Take-Two on GTA 6.

How much did GTA 6 cost?

Toonkel asked directlyReported4. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two CEO Faces Bizarre Question Over Company’s Lack of ‘Enough Hits’. Zelnick didn't give a number. He confirmed the game was expensive to make and took a long time.

Outside estimates mentioned in the interview put the budget above $1 billionRumor8. InkTV — The Embarrassing GTA 6 Wall Street Journal Interview.... Some go as high as $3 billion, which would make it the most expensive game everReported9. gtaboom.com — Strauss Zelnick Still Will Not Confirm the GTA 6 Budget, Only That It Was Expensive. None of that is official. Zelnick's argument was that Take-Two's approach is sometimes very expensive, but games that work pay for themselves and moreReported9. gtaboom.com — Strauss Zelnick Still Will Not Confirm the GTA 6 Budget, Only That It Was Expensive.

AI: "handcrafted"

AI came up as well. Zelnick said AI is a loaded word in games, because players don't want anything labeled AI in their gamesReported6. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two Addresses AI In GTA 6’s Development Again. He also said Take-Two has used AI and machine learning since the beginningReported6. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two Addresses AI In GTA 6’s Development Again. When it comes to GTA itself, the message was clear: Grand Theft Auto games are made by hand, not with AI. That matches what he said in February, that generative AI had no part in making GTA 6Reported6. insider-gaming.com — Take-Two Addresses AI In GTA 6’s Development Again.

If you're curious how the game's crowds were built without AI tricks, read our NPC AI guide.

The delays and Rockstar's control

Zelnick also explained the delays. Rockstar's business lead Jennifer Kolbe asked for more development time. Zelnick said he treated that as a requirement, not an optional request. Rockstar has also kept developing GTA 6 while adding new content to GTA Online.

He made it clear that Rockstar is in charge of how GTA 6 is marketed. Its goal, he said, is simply to be spectacularly entertaining. Take-Two will judge the result on units sold and profit. He said he'll wait to see how players react before calling it a success, but that he feels good about itReported9. gtaboom.com — Strauss Zelnick Still Will Not Confirm the GTA 6 Budget, Only That It Was Expensive.

For the full history of the release date, see our GTA 6 delays timeline.

What about piracy?

In a separate report this week, Zelnick called piracy a "fact of life" and said Take-Two would take legal and technical action if it became a serious problemReported12. notebookcheck.com — Take-Two CEO: GTA 6 Raubkopien sind unvermeidlich. He argued that games are less exposed than film or music. The files are huge, they're hard to crack, and they need a connection to Take-Two's serversReported12. notebookcheck.com — Take-Two CEO: GTA 6 Raubkopien sind unvermeidlich.

He didn't comment on jailbreaks or specific consoles. Take-Two and Rockstar haven't said what copy protection GTA 6 will useReported12. notebookcheck.com — Take-Two CEO: GTA 6 Raubkopien sind unvermeidlich. Our PS5 firmware guide covers the console side.

What it means for players

Nothing in the interview changes the plan. GTA 6 still launches on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Digital pre-orders can preload from November 10, and you'll need up to 212GB of free space. Our launch guide has everything you need to do before then.