Take-Two says GTA 6 ‘needs to be something never seen before’ but also familiar

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has discussed what he views as one of Rockstar’s major challenges when it comes to meeting expectations with Grand Theft Auto 6.

According to the executive, Rockstar must walk a very fine line by offering players something that feels both brand new and also reassuringly familiar.

“In the entertainment business… we adopt our hits like they’re part of us, they’re part of our family, you know, we have a great affinity for them and we take it personally if people screw around with them, like it’s not okay if the creators make a choice that is inconsistent with how we think these hits should be developed,” he told the Good Time Show podcast.

He later said: “I think that’s a challenge that the folks at Rockstar face every time there’s a new iteration of Grand Theft Auto. It needs to be something you’ve never seen before on one hand, and it needs to reflect the feeling that we have about Grand Theft Auto, and that’s a big challenge for the team.

“Now, Rockstar’s answer is just seek perfection, seek nothing short of perfection and we’ll get there.”

In one of the games industry’s most high-profile data leaks, more than an hour of GTA 6 development footage was published online last September, giving players their first look at the sequel to one of the best-selling games of all time.

The leaked footage included open-world gameplay from an alpha build of GTA 6, and seemingly confirmed a previous report which claimed the game will take place in Vice City and feature a female protagonist.

“Certainly the leak won’t have any influence on development or anything of the sort, but it is terribly disappointing”, Zelnick later claimed.

During its earnings call last week, Take-Two said Grand Theft Auto 5 has now shipped over 180 million units since its original release in 2013.

Rockstar’s owner also forecast a sharp jump in sales during its next fiscal year beginning in April 2024, driven by the release of “several groundbreaking titles”, leading to speculation that GTA 6 could be released during this period.