Take-Two’s CEO is probably the world’s only person to refuse the chance to play GTA 6 because “I’m not a gamer” – his role is to “get out of their way”
Millions of gamers seem absolutely ravenous about getting their hands – or, heck, even just their eyeballs – on GTA 6. But Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who leads the parent company of Rockstar Games, just admitted he hadn’t touched the open-world behemoth much because he’s simply not a gamer. Forgive him, though, his reasons are admirable.
When asked if he’s played GTA 6 in an interview with CNBC, Zelnick simply said “I’m not a gamer, not a lot – I don’t play video games, I’m not the consumer-in-chief.”
He later went on to explain that he still shares his “opinions pretty openly” with the developers under Take-Two’s umbrella, which also owns 2K Games like Borderlands 4, but he believes also being a consumer wouldn’t be in the company’s best interest.
“My role is to attract, retain, and motivate the best talent in the business, and then getting out of their way,” he explained, which sounds more ideal than a suit making sweeping gameplay decisions, despite not knowing anything about games themselves.
“I think being the consumer-in-chief in the entertainment business as the CEO is probably a mistake,” he added. “I wasn’t the consumer-in-chief in the movie business or the television business or the music business, even though I certainly could read a script and I definitely love music… but that’s not my role.”
Earlier in that chat, Zelnick made some lofty comments about the incoming behemoth: “Rockstar Games is trying to create the best thing anyone’s ever seen in entertainmen.”
Another GTA 6 delay is unlikely as “historically” Rockstar is “very good” at meeting solid release dates like with Red Dead Redemption 2, says Take-Two boss
