The CEO of the publishers behind GTA 6, Take-Two Interactive, isn't quite ready to go on his victory lap just yet, but he is once again enjoying what he thinks might be the most valuable entertainment IP in the world.
Speaking to David Rubenstein, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked about the size of of GTA 6's impending launch. In traditional fashion, Zelnick remained pretty humble, telling Rubenstein that "we never claim success before it occurs."
In this instance, he notes, Take-Two and Rockstar have had plenty of success together. "It's true that GTA 5 was a massive hit," he admits. "It sold in over 230 million units, and we believe the Grand Theft Auto franchise as a whole is probably the most valuable intellectual property in the entertainment business, of any type, because of its enormous reach to consumers worldwide."
Zelnick's argument is a potent one, but it's also a little hard to pin down. Off the top of my head, Pokémon and Marvel have certainly generated more money, but that's admittedly off the back of many hundreds more releases (and many more decades, in Marvel's case). Clearly, however, neither of those franchises can match the billions of dollars off a single launch that GTA 6 is set to make next week, or the other billions that the long tail of GTA Online is likely to secure. Pound-for-pound, GTA certainly sends those other heavyweights back to the corner, even if the 13-year gap between releases might be hurting a little.
Despite his quiet confidence in the brand, however, Zelnick is still refusing to count his chickens before they hatch. "The team at Rockstar has been working diligently to try to create something extraordinary with Grand Theft Auto 6," he says. "I believe they will, I'm very optimistic, but as for success, we'll have to wait until November 19 and beyond."
