- Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, says: ‘Of course’ criticism is important
- The CEO apparently also tried to SpiritsEye studio Build a Rocket Boy
- He says many people, “including former Rockstar employees,” have tried and failed to succeed.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said Grand Theft Auto 6 reviews will be just as important as the scores of all other Rockstar Games titles.
It seems like everyone, including their grandmother, is eagerly awaiting the release of GTA6and given Rockstar’s reputation, there’s no doubt the studio will deliver another memorable experience. The game is unlikely to be an outright dud, but according to Zelnick, the reviews are vital to the company.
In a recent interview with The Game Business, when host Christopher Dring asked the CEO if critical reviews were still important, he responded, “Of course,” adding, “the same as in the past, Rockstar’s scores are usually in the mid-90s, sometimes in the 90s. Few games can say that. And that speaks to Rockstar’s commitment to quality.”
Zelnick echoed a similar sentiment at the 54th Annual TD Cowen Technology, Media & Telecommunications Conference (via Kotaku), where he spoke about the challenges of creating success in the industry. During the conference, the CEO apparently took a photo of Build A Rocket Boy, the studio behind one of the worst games of 2025, SpiritsEyestating that there have been those who failed to make a success like Rockstar.
“Making hits seems to be getting harder and harder as entertainment industries mature,” Zelnick said. “The people at Rockstar seem to be able to pull off these huge hits, and lots of other people have tried. Many, many, including former Rockstar employees. And so far, they haven’t been able to do it.”
The “former Rockstar employees” that Zelnick might be talking about are formerGrand Theft Auto Producer Leslie Benzies, who, after his wildly ambitious one-man action thriller failed and led to mass layoffs, later blamed internal and external saboteurs for the disastrous launch (via IGN).
Zelnick then added that simply because no other studio has made a hit like this. RGT but “that doesn’t mean they won’t be able to do it in the future, by the way.”
“We are still afraid,” he said. “But it won’t be technology that changes the game. What will change is that one or more extraordinarily creative individuals will come along and do something amazing. Our goal is to get these people to work in the Take-Two system. If we can’t do that, we’ll fail.”
Despite speculation about delays, Take-Two reiterated that GTA6 will launch on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X and Series S, but the game will not yet be available on PC.
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