With Grand Theft Auto VI being one of the industry’s most anticipated upcoming games, Take-Two Interactive, which owns GTA developer Rockstar, is aiming for perfection. In the company’s latest earnings call, Take-Two acknowledged the excitement around the upcoming sequel, saying it would rather push for perfection than rush an anticipated game out to market.
During the call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the ongoing success of the Grand Theft Auto series, saying that excitement around the Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer release had a positive impact. “The Grand Theft Auto series is benefiting meaningfully from excitement surrounding Rockstar’s announcement of Grand Theft Auto VI and the release of its first trailer,” Zelnick said, adding some statistics around the trailer’s record-breaking debut.
Zelnick elaborated on the popularity of the franchise during the Q&A section of the call, stating that “all things GTA lead to more excitement.” When asked how the hype around GTA 6 compares to what the company saw with the GTA 5 launch in 2013, Zelnick said “our sense is that the anticipation is much higher. Much, much higher.”
In response to a question around how the release window for GTA 6 was decided, Zelnick explained that Take-Two prioritized polish over rushing the game to release. “We’re seeking perfection,” he stated straight away. “When we feel we’ve optimized creatively, that’s the time to release.”
“There’s inherent tension, potentially, between getting something to market and creating perfection,” Zelnick added. “But this company errs on the side of perfection.”
During the call, Take-Two also announced a “significant cost reduction” was in the works, but has said that it won’t require laying off staff for now.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently scheduled to release in 2025.