GTA VI Seeks Perfection, Says Take-Two CEO, as Updated Forecast Hints at FY 2026 Launch Window

09.02.2024 - 09:41 / wccftech.com / Strauss Zelnick / Alessio Palumbo

GTA VI was unsurprisingly brought up several times during Take-Two's Q3 2024 earnings call. When an analyst from BMO Capital Markets asked how the publisher and Rockstar would settle on the release date, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in response:

We're seeking perfection. And when we feel we've optimized creatively, that's the time to release. And we're all in this together. In terms of motivations and incentives, the financial incentives of everyone who works at this company are aligned with those of the shareholders.

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So we essentially have -- call it what you will, we have profit sharing plans throughout the company at the operating level and at the senior level, compensation is driven largely by TSR. So, our goal is to align the interest of everyone who works there with the interest of the shareholders. That keeps us all pointing in the same direction. So you're right; there's inherent tension potentially between getting something to market and creating perfection, but this company errs on the side of perfection.

This kind of reply alone could be taken as a hint of a later-than-anticipated release window, as seeking perfection in game development means delaying a launch. Indeed, Take-Two's net bookings forecast change also goes in that direction: the company previously estimated over $8 billion in net bookings for fiscal year 2025 (April 2024 - March 2025), leading analysts to believe the GTA VI launch would be in that timeframe. However, Chief Financial Officer Lainie Goldstein said yesterday:

At this time, the number is tracking a little above $7 billion for net bookings for the year and given the typical shifts in tweaks that occur in our forecasting process. This amount is still huge growth over this year. Our pipeline is groundbreaking for next year and beyond, and teams are making excellent progress on game development.

When an analyst questioned the reduction in the forecast, Goldstein replied:

For fiscal year '25, as I mentioned, it's really driven by changes in the release schedule. And obviously, that will move some of the titles out into years going forward because the lifetime value of our portfolio hasn't changed. We do expect to see growth in fiscal year '26 over '25, so that hasn't changed.

So, there have been changes in the release schedule, and Take-Two expects even bigger net bookings for fiscal year 2026. As if all that wasn't enough, the publisher shared the updated roadmap of its announced titles, with GTA VI mentioned for 'calendar 2025'.

At this point, it's clear the game is targeting a launch in fiscal year 2026, possibly in Fall 2025. Take-Two still has an