"Rockstar Games seeks perfection in what they do

GTA 6 Release Date Remaining A Mystery Could Be On Purpose Perfection is a pretty high bar. It takes a long time."

"Rockstar Games seeks perfection in what they do

Zelnick also discussed why it's taken more than a decade for Rockstar Games to release GTA 6 following GTA 5's launch in 2013. Zelnick said whereas some of its competitors launch new entries in major franchises on a semi-regular basis, Take-Two's teams "set an intention" of letting certain franchises rest, in part to create hype. While it's true Rockstar has not released a numbered GTA sequel since 2013, the franchise has hardly rested, as Rockstar launched the game on new platforms and continued to expand the series with ongoing updates to GTA Online.

Take-Two's sports games are annualized, but for non-sports games, Zelnick said, "We think you need to create enormous anticipation." Also, Zelnick said it simply "takes a long time" to make a big game like GTA 6. "Rockstar Games seeks perfection in what they do. Perfection is a pretty high bar. It takes a long time," he said.

Also during the interview, Zelnick said part of the reason why Take-Two's franchises have been successful over the years, including the GTA series, is because Take-Two is able to recruit and retain top talent. Zelnick said he has no creative talent himself but has "some ability to figure out who's really talented" and then hire them. He said Take-Two's management teams largely let individual developers work on their projects with autonomy. "We're not bugging them any more than necessary," he said.

Zelnick went on to say that Take-Two's teams are granted "essentially unlimited financial resources to create perfection." What's more, Take-Two has a revenue-sharing plan, so when a game succeeds, some of the proceeds are passed on to developers in the form of bonuses. All of these factors contribute to helping Take-Two retain top talent, Zelnick said.

GTA 6 is officially set for release sometime in Fall 2025 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, with a PC release potentially to follow later on. Take-Two and Rockstar Games not assigning the game a release date is causing turmoil for developers who are seeking to schedule their own games to avoid it.

Another major Take-Two game, Borderlands 4 from developer Gearbox, is launching on September 23. Given the expectation that Take-Two would likely want to give that game some room to breathe, some are expecting GTA 6 to potentially follow in October or November.

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