Take-Two Interactive has almost 9,000 employees, and it's the parent company of Rockstar (GTA developers), 2K, which you're most certainly familiar with, Zynga (FarmVille), and many other companies that, together, made over $5.35 billion in 2023. At the helm lies 65-year-old Strauss Zelnick. Some consider him a superhero; others think he's too good-looking for how successful he is. But no matter the case, one thing is sure. He recently said Rockstar is seeking perfection with GTA VI.
For the record, the person who joked multiple times on his live streams about Strauss Zelnick looking too good for such a successful person is another video game legend, none other than God of War creator David Jaffe.
Now getting back to our neck of the woods, Take-Two's CEO recently said during an interview that GTA VI developers at Rockstar Games are hard at work trying to create "something you've never seen before" while also trying to stay true to the series' core values. "It needs to reflect the feeling that we have about Grand Theft Auto," he added.
To say it's challenging for the people working on the game for the past nine years (according to Bloomberg) to balance out innovation with tradition would be an understatement.
That's why people raised their eyebrows when Jason Schreier reported Rockstar "grew up" as a company and said they will no longer "punch down" by making fun of marginalized groups of people. GTA is famous for portraying violence and offensive jokes, so now you understand the producers' massive predicament.
Of course, hurdles are part of any huge undertaking, but according to Zelnick, Rockstar strives for "perfection" nonetheless. "Seek nothing short of perfection, and we'll get there," he said.
There has never been a more amazing time to be a GTA fan, judging by the latest inside info, rumors, official company statements, etc. And speaking of statements, just a short while ago, Take-Two published their financial reports and earnings for the GTA franchise since the fifth iteration came out in 2013.
The reports said they expect to reach $8 billion in revenue by fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Now, they're at $5.35 billion, which means the $2.65 extra billion has to come from somewhere else.
While they have an imposing roster of video games that easily make bank, only something as big as Grant Theft Auto VI could theoretically make the most significant chunk from that sum in that short time. Thus, the most popular theory is that they intend to release the game in 2024.
It's all hypothetical, of course, so don't get too excited. Games go through internal delays more often than you'd think in the industry, and no title is immune.
The last order of business is regarding the money Take-Two has made since releasing GTA V in September 2013. While we all knew the 180+ million copies sold weren't given out to charity, it wasn't public information that the game's total revenue was over 8.33 billion dollars. Hyperboles can't describe how much money that is for a video game company.
While we have no official word of when we'll see a trailer or as much as a teaser with a black screen and a logo, one thing is sure: when the announcement hits, the Internet will have a hard time keeping up with the traffic it will generate.
Codrin just loves American classics, from the 1940s and ‘50s, all the way to the muscle cars of the '60s and '70s. In his perfect world, we'll still see Hudsons and Road Runners roaming the streets for years to come (even in EV form, if that's what it takes to keep the aesthetic alive). Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News