Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says he’s “not in the least” concerned that a row with ex-Rockstar employees could negatively impact the launch of GTA 6.
He also shrugged off online debates round the company’s decision not to have a physical disc version of GTA 6 when it launches on November 19.
GTA 6 is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time when it arrives this November. Currently, all major companies have avoided going head-to-head with the game, which arrives more than 13 years after GTA 5, a game that has now sold 230 million copies worldwide.
However, Rockstar is currently handling a labour dispute after it dismissed more than 30 employees over leaking information online. The Independent Workers of Great Britain has accused Rockstar of discriminating against staff that were looking to join a union, and the case is currently going to tribunal in the UK.
We’ve seen media coverage increasingly consider wider issues in their critical reviews for new games. Last year, one major website awarded a lower score to the game Arc Raiders for using AI technology.
“We are proud of how people are treated and how people are compensated”
“[We’re] not in the last [concerned]. How you develop the game is different from the nature of your labour relations,” Zelnick told The Game Business.
“We are very proud of our labour relations. We have an extraordinary work force, 13,000 colleagues around the world. And we are proud of how people are treated and how people are compensated. We have the lowest attrition rate in the business by half, and Rockstar’s attrition rate is half of that. That’s vastly the lowest in the business. As I say, we are proud of our labour relations.”
Meanwhile, Zelnick has played down concerns that the lack of a disc version for GTA 6 might negatively impact the launch of the game because “everyone is online. You can’t play new video games without being online.”
We mentioned that historically retail has been a key marketing channel for games like GTA. Zelnick responded: “That’s a good point, which is why we offer code-in-a-box. But ultimately, our business is well over 90% digital.”
GTA 6 will receive its next major reveal on Netflix on August 27, which is the first time the TV streaming giant has hosted a game reveal.
“Rockstar is known for trying new things and innovating. And I am hopeful you will see more innovations,” Zelnick said.
Linked to Grand Theft Auto is the current challenges facing video game consoles. PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo have all had to raise the price of their machines, which has resulted in an initial slowdown in sales. This isn’t just a challenge for GTA, which launches only on PlayStation and Xbox this year, but some of Take-Two’s other major franchises, including NBA 2K.
“We think the audience for our console and PC games could be 10X or more the size of the business today”
“The install base of this generation at Christmas time will be roughly the same as the install base was when we launched GTA 5,” Zelnick noted. “We’re not concerned about selling to a smaller audience.
“But we do think the intersection of the growth of PC as a format within console and PC releases from 1% to 50% of the last 20 years, combined with our optimism about streaming services over the next three years, we think the audience for our console and PC games could be 10X or more the size of the business today. Now that does not mean we think our revenues will grow by 10X, but we do think the install base will grow materially.”
Zelnick was talking after Take-Two’s 2026/2027 Q1 results, which beat guidance due to strong revenue from NBA 2K26 and Grand Theft Auto. It says it will hit $8 billion to $8.2 billion in net bookings for the full year.
