Just the other day, Rockstar Games
parent company, Take 2 Interactive, had
their earnings call. And we got a lot of
information on Grand Theft Auto 6,
including when it started development,
how much it costs to make the game, what
it's likely going to be when it comes
out in terms of its price, and a whole
lot more. We've got so much to go over
today from the executives at Take
Interactive to interviews, statements,
and more. We'll be diving into all of
it. So, Strauss Selnick opened the call
by saying this, and this is the
transcript. Rockstar expects to release
Grand Theft Auto 6 on May 26, 2026,
which is in our fiscal year 2027. I
believe affording Rockstar Games
additional time for such a
groundbreaking project is a worthy
investment. Grand Theft Auto 6 began
development in earnest in 2020 following
the massive success of Red Dead
Redemption 2, and the title is now the
most anticipated entertainment property
of all time. Consumer anticipation is
unprecedented with Trailer 2's
crossplatform debut last week shattering
records to become the biggest video
launch of all time with over 475 million
views in 24 hours. This follows Trailer
1's record-breaking debut of 93 million
views in 24 hours on YouTube alone.
Spotify streams of the track featured in
the trailer, hot together by the Pointer
sisters, surged by
182,000%, once again proving Rockstar's
ability to influence popular culture.
The ambition and complexity of Grand
Theft Auto 6 is greater than any
previous Rockstar title, and the team is
poised to release another astonishing
entertainment experience that will
exceed players expectations. So, we got
a lot of interesting nuggets there. The
first and probably the most interesting
is when Grand Theft Auto 6 began
development. And Strauss Zelnik says in
earnest in 2020 following the massive
success of Red Dead Redemption 2.
However, and I actually had to look this
up, in earnest means occurring to a
greater extent or more intensely than
before. So, I think that more closely
means that it probably began immediately
after Red Dead Redemption 2 came out in
2018. But of course, there were rumors
of Grand Theft Auto 6 and its story
being rebooted and redone. And then, of
course, there was a little thing called
the pandemic, which basically shut
things down for a year. So maybe full
development starting in 2020 is more
accurate, but I still believe things
probably started right after the release
of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. He
also mentioned that affording Rockstar
additional time is a worthy investment
for such a groundbreaking project and
for what is going to be the most
anticipated entertainment property of
all time. Going on to highlight the
success of trailer 2 in terms of the
views it got as well as the song that
was featured hot together by the Pointer
sisters how it exploded and saying how
this is going to be the most ambitious
and most complex Rockstar Games title of
all time and that it will exceed
expectations. So that was the statement
from Strauss Selnic and we also heard
from him as he did a series of
interviews with websites on the day of
the interview. Let's begin with what he
said on IGN. And the first thing that
IGN asked him was why they had to delay
the game from fall 2025 to May 26, 2026.
Because back in February, Strauss Zelnik
said he was confident about the game
remaining in fall 2025. So this is what
he had to say. As we get closer to the
completion of a title that's seeking
perfection, the needs or lack thereof
for continued polish become clear. In
this case, there was an opportunity with
a small amount of incremental time we
thought to make sure Rockstar Games
achieves its creative vision with no
limitations and I supported of course
that approach. Going on to say, I feel
really good about how physical 26 looks
sitting here today and while of course
delays paying me. How could they not?
the most important thing to do is
support your teams in their search of
perfection. And then IGN went on to ask
him how confident he was that it will
hit May 2026. And he seemed very certain
going on to say, I think historically
when we set a specific date, generally
speaking, we've been very good about
reaching it. So that's essentially, in
my opinion, him saying without saying
it, that Grand Theft Auto 6 is likely
not going to get delayed again. And that
has been Rockstar's MMO in the past.
Once they finally actually give us like
a firm date, not just like a spring or a
fall of a year, but an actual date, an
exact time in which it's going to come
out, they've usually stuck to hitting
that very well. So, I think that gives
us good confidence for Grand Theft Auto
6, hearing that from CEO and chairman
Strauss Zelnik. Now, IGN's article also
brought up something interesting. They
said GTA 6 development so far is
estimated to be over $1 billion, which
would make it the most expensive video
game of all time. We've heard lots of
rumors about what ultimately GTA 6's
development cost is going to be. Even
from the leaks that happened a couple of
years ago, it was rumored to be around
$2 billion, but IGN saying it's rumored
to be over a billion. Either way, that
is a ton of money. Again, it would make
it the most expensive video game of all
time. But anyways, let's move on to some
more statements from Take 2 CEO Strauss
Zelnik speaking to Gamesbeat, which is a
part of the Venturebe website. This is
what he had to say around the
announcement of the delay for Grand
Theft Auto 6. Going on to say, "We're
constantly seeking perfection here at
Take 2 broadly and specifically,
Rockstar Games sometimes requires more
time, in this case, to deliver this
groundbreaking project at that level
that its fans demand." And then they
went on to ask him why it's such a
precise date. Going on to say they
typically stick to those dates after
making those announcements. And then
going on to say, "While to me it looked
like a long delay, Zelnik said he would
quibble that it was a long delay as it
was less than 6 months later." Since we
didn't know the original date Rockstar
had in mind, we didn't know if it was a
short delay. I asked if Zelnik felt the
industry was stabilizing, but he said
Take wasn't reporting on how the
industry was doing, only the company
itself, and that it was a great physical
year. So, he essentially goes on to say
that it's not a long delay, which at the
end of the day, it isn't terrible. Let's
just say the game was supposed to come
out in like October or November. It kind
of puts us at around 5 to 6 to 7 months.
It's not awful at the end of the day. It
feels like a long way away because it's
literally a year from now when we'll get
to play the game, but it's not terrible.
Now, moving on. The next website that
got an interview with Strauss Zelnik is
coming from Variety. And the first
question they asked him was when
internally they decided or at least they
knew that Grand Theft Auto 6 was not
going to make the fall 2025 window and
instead would have to come out at a
later date. He said, "So we don't talk
about when we make decisions around
here." And obviously the net bookings
that are expected for physical 26 are
lower without the release of GTA 6. That
goes without saying, but we haven't
actually parsed what the specific effect
is. Although analysts have speculated, I
think the key point to bear in mind here
once again, we're setting a record,
which is what we said we would do. We
certainly expect growth in physical 27.
This company is in extraordinary sound
shape and well positioned both for
challenges and opportunities ahead. So,
a pretty non-answer there of when they
decided it was going to happen. uh
essentially just forwardlooking and
saying that he's excited for the future
and he should be. Now the next
interesting question that Variety asked
Charl Selnic was what the price of Grand
Theft Auto 6 was going to be because
recently as you guys know games have
been getting more expensive and some of
Take 2's competitors have been making
games a little bit pricier. This is what
he had to say. Well, it's true that some
of our competitors have talked about
higher prices and variable pricing. The
rubric that informs our decision-making
is that we need and want to deliver more
value than whatever we charge consumers.
We think the consumer experiences the
intersection of the thing itself. How
great is the property with how much you
pay for it. I think you know that
anecdotally about yourself. We all feel
that way. So, we're very mindful that
it's our job to deliver enormous values
to customers. We think we do just that.
Once again, a pretty big non-answer.
Essentially going to say if they think
GTA 6 provides this incredible value,
then they're probably going to price it
higher than any other game out there.
And they will justify that that's fair.
They're not going to base on what other
people are doing to determine the price
of the game they set, which is fair. But
just be warned that GTA 6 will probably
be the most expensive video game of all
time, too, in terms of what we pay for
it. Whether that's $80, $90, $100, I
could see it being any of those amounts.
Now, the next website that got an
interview with Strauss Zelnik was the
game business, and they asked him a
handful of interesting questions. The
first one was this. Why was it so
important to set a full release date for
GTA 6 so far in advance, he kind of gave
the same answer. Generally, when we set
a specific date, that ends up being the
date. They also asked him, "Were you
conscious of the wider industry needing
some clarity around when the game was
going to land?" it had been a very big
topic in the industry. And he said, "I
love that there's that speculation going
on. It's flattering. The point is that
in the context of the delay, which is
going to disappoint people, we thought
it was important to reassure people that
it's coming." And picking a specific
date emphasizes that point. They asked
him again, "Well, I suspect the industry
appreciates having that clarity, even if
it wasn't done for that reason." And he
jokingly said, "No one has sent me any
flowers." That is hysterical. But he
does actually bring up a good point that
yes, Rockstar Games made the delay
announcement. But on that announcement,
they have provided a specific date and
then days later we got all this
information about the game. So that does
in a way reassure us fans that yes, the
game is still going to be coming and it
looks obviously better than ever based
on what we've seen with the screenshots
and Rockstar's new site and trailer 2,
of course. Now, the final question
regarding Grand Theft Auto 6 that the
game business asked Strauss Zelnik was,
"By the time GTA 6 launches, it will
have been nearly eight years since we
had a fully original Rockstar games.
Quality takes time, of course, but how
comfortable are you in the length of
time these console and PC games are
taking to build?" And he said, "Remember
back in the good old days or the bad old
days, depending how you look at it, we
would work on a title, release the
title, hope for the best, and then make
another title. Now we have the
opportunity for consumers to engage on
an ongoing basis with our hits. We have
that through downloadable add-on
contents or through multiplayer versions
of those games. In the case of Grand
Theft Auto, we have Grand Theft Auto
Online. And Rockstar has been supplying
content to Grand Theft Auto Online, some
of which is so robust that if you go
back 15 years, it would have counted as
a standalone title. One could really
argue that Rockstar has been putting out
a new Grand Theft Auto release a couple
of times a year. Same thing holds true
for Red Dead Online, which has been
ongoing. And in the most recent quarter,
Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead
Online has exceeded expectations. So
essentially, that might tell us why it's
taken at least to a degree so long to
get Grand Theft Auto 6. Yes, for all the
reasons we've talked about and for every
reason you've seen how great the game
looks. But Rockstar knew they could take
their time because they had this
behemoth in Grand Theft Auto Online that
was doing so well and was providing fans
constant updates. And I think that's
exactly what Strauss Zelnik was pointing
to there. And last but not least, where
I want to end on the earnings call
itself, at the very end of that call,
Strauss Zelnik ends up taking questions
from some of the investors and
shareholders that call in. And in some
cases, they ask some questions about
Grand Theft Auto 6. And in some
instances, he'll give some unique
answers. And someone basically asked him
what about the second trailer excited
him and if that second trailer would
provide more engagement and monetization
and he basically said so essentially
once again Rockstar Games broke the
internet and we feel really good about
that and what it means for the upcoming
release of Grand Theft Auto 6. So
obviously they're really confident and
excited with how well those trailers are
doing and what it means for when the
game actually comes out. Another
question came from a guy who was asking
Strauss Zelnik if he could talk about
the record excitement they're seeing for
the game and if that excitement is how
they're measuring demand. And he goes on
to say, "Why do I think GTA 6 is so
widely anticipated?" First of all, I
can't tell you how much I appreciate the
tenor of the question. We all do. Look,
Grand Theft Auto 5 is the standard bar,
not just for our company, but for the
industry since it was launched. It not
only survived through three console
generations, it survived and is here
many years later and is still the number
one title since it sold in 215 million
units and continues to sell. And Grand
Theft Auto Online just had a phenomenal
quarter and GTA Plus is doing great. And
then he goes on to say, "Obviously, 450
million trailer views within 24 hours
tells you something. It's not just that,
wow, that was a great trailer. It tells
you something more than that." So, that
right there is everything we learned
from Tech2 Interactives earnings call
and the interviews that CEO and chairman
Strauss Zelnik did about Grand Theft
Auto 6. Typically, these earnings calls
have always been sort of a beacon of
hope that we might hear something. But
now that we've gotten the release date,
the second trailer, all the screenshot
and informations, it was kind of just
the cherry on top of the milkshake. So,
let me know what you guys think about
everything that was discussed about GTA
6 development, its budget, what its
price is going to be, all that and more
in those comments down below. I'd love
to hear from you guys down there. If you
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