The Grand Tour With millions more copies of GTA sold, a thriving sports label, and a 2022 release schedule that threatens more of the same (with a Marvel title thrown in for good measure), Take-Two are riding high. Richie Shoemaker thumbs down CEO Strauss Zelnick and gets taken for a spin
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t may be the third largest publisher behind EA and Activision Blizzard, but with Grand Theft Auto driving much of its success, Take-Two is very much at the top of its game. In the wake of its last earnings call, for example, it was revealed that Grand Theft Auto V – soon to be released for a third successive console generation – had shifted five million more units in the last quarter, while GTA Online’s player base is 11 per cent larger and spending 33 per cent more. For a game that was birthed on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, there’s no sign that interest in Rockstar’s open world behemoth is waning, in spite of all the other, newer, diversions that gaming offers. However, for all the success that GTA has delivered, Take-Two and the wider gaming industry continue to face a number of challenges, from a global pandemic that is diminished but by no means over, to persistent issues of workplace diversity, and a perceived over reliance on core franchises. Then there is the growing prominence of the “metaverse”, blockchain technology and NFTs, opinions on which continue to divide the industry. On these issues and more we questioned Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick on where he perceives the organisation to be as the world angles itself to face another challenging year.
14 | MCV/DEVELOP November/December 2021
