Take-Two boss is really very confident that Grand Theft Auto 6 won't be delayed again: 'My level of conviction is very, very high'

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 08: CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software Strauss Zelnick attends Paley International Council Summit at Paley Museum on November 08, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

There was, I am sure, a great deal of wailing and gnashing of teeth when Take-Two delayed Grand Theft Auto 6 from its planned release this year to May 26, 2026—if you're on console, anyway. Expectations are very high, after all, and new GTA games don't come around very often. But just how certain are we of that new date, really? I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is pretty darn sure, because, well, he said so.

"My level of conviction is very, very high," Zelnick said in an interview with CNBC (via Kotaku). "Rockstar does have a lot of other things going on, but this is of course the primary focus."

Take-Two Interactive CEO on Q2 earnings, gamer growth and GTA 6 - YouTube

Watch On

Zelnick said Take-Two tries not to "pump expectations," which I think is a reasonable thing to say—as game company CEOs go, Zelnick is pretty restrained—although entirely in vain if the goal is to keep those expectations down. As Take-Two noted in its most recent quarterly earnings report (and which Zelnick also referenced during the interview), the first Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer drew 93 million views on YouTube alone, making it the biggest non-music video debut on the platform; the second trailer, released on multiple platforms, pulled more than 475 million views in 24 hours.

Ironically, after saying Take-Two tries not to pump up expectations, Zelnick pumped up expectations.

"Rockstar's whole stock in trade is to have these extraordinary expectations, and still to beat them," he said. "I know that's their goal. I know it's gonna be an amazing game. The rest we'll see in the fullness of time."

It's worth taking a moment to clock that this is not a carved-in-stone "it'll be there." I myself have had a very, very high level of conviction in the past that one thing or another would work out a certain way—a couple of recent US elections, for instance—and they just seemed to go sideways at the last moment. Bad luck is a bitch sometimes. That said, Rockstar's willingness to tie GTA 6 down to a specific date rather than a vague window—prior to the delay, all we had to go on was late 2025—makes me think that Zelnick's confidence is probably well placed on this one.

We will also presumably see, in the fullness of time, a PC release date for Grand Theft Auto 6, but if you're keeping score at home that time is not yet upon us: Take-Two reiterated in its quarterly report that Grand Theft Auto 6 will launch on May 26 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Seires X/S, and—for now, at least—nothing else.

Best gaming rigs 2025

👉Check out our list of guides👈

1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16

2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L

3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed.

4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT

5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3

TOPICS

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.