Strauss Zelnick Reacts To The Idea That GTA 6 Is Take-Two's First "Big Hit"

Take-Two CEO Claps Back After Baffling Question Claiming Studio "Doesn't Have Enough Hits" Take-Two Published Nov 5, 2026, 4:18 AM EST Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar’s parent company, will almost certainly publish its biggest game ever, maybe the biggest game ever, when GTA 6 launches later this month. It won’t be the publisher’s first mega hit, though, of course, although one interviewer seems to think that it will be. "You Don't Have Enough Hits" Rockstar Take-Two CEO Strauss Zeknick spoke with The Wall Street Journal with two weeks to go until GTA 6’s arrival, and a clip from that interview has gone viral for all the wrong reasons. “I think there is a concern that this is your big hit, that you don’t have enough hits in your library,” the CEO was asked during the clip shared by Project Vice. That is quite the claim to make considering the games under the Take-Two banner. Rockstar, alone, boasts Red Dead Redemption and decades of GTA games, the latest of which, GTA 5, has sold 230 million copies - a number that continues to grow by a factor of millions with each passing quarter. Rockstar isn’t the only studio under Take-Two either. There’s also 2K, which, outside of everything else, releases new NBA and WWE games every single year. Again, both series that sell in the millions every time a new installment is released. Zelnick's Response Zelnick doesn’t even need to say anything. The perplexed look he gives before delivering his answer gets a laugh from those in attendance, and the Take-Two boss then proceeds to highlight why, while GTA 6 will be Take-Two’s biggest success so far, it is the latest in a long line of hits that stretch back to the turn of the century. “We have 15 franchises that have each sold at least five million units... I think we have the best collection of intellectual property in the video game business,” Zelnick highlights to kick off his retort. “I think that’s reflected in our top line, our bottom line, and our market cap. So, I guess the way I would respond is to examine the facts.” Zelnick goes on to list all of the massive gaming franchises that Take-Two is responsible for, adding Borderlands, Bioshock, Civilization, and more to the likes of Red Dead, NBA 2K, and WWE 2K that were already mentioned above. He points to Red Dead Redemption 2’s massive sales - it’s the fourth best-selling game ever after GTA 5 - and NBA 2K being the second-biggest video game sports franchise in the world, presumably after EA Sports FC. It is the “examine the facts” line that’s the main reason why this interview is going to go viral, though, because, as much as I can sometimes sympathize with a journalist having a gap in their knowledge that catches them out in an interview, this is a pretty unforgivable one. The belief that GTA 6 has to be some kind of saving grace for Take-Two isn’t a knowledge gap; it’s evidence that not only was the wrong person chosen to conduct this interview, but that person then didn’t even do the most basic research into the publisher’s back catalog. 30 seconds of research and you’d know GTA 5 and Red Dead 2 are two of the biggest and most successful games of all time, and 30 seconds is being generous. Systems Released November 19, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Genre(s) Action, Adventure