Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, stated that he does not believe the company’s games can be financially sustainable at the moment they’re available for subscription.
Zelnick said in a video interview that, while Take-Two games are available on subscriptions, adding them to day one is not the best practice.
We are happy to support different subscription services. We are not sure if products will be available for advanced consoles before the subscription begins. There should be a clear line between the demands of the consumer, and the publisher who is able to provide it. But that doesn’t work for everyone. Sony seems to agree with us, as they have said so. This is important for catalog properties. These properties have been on the market for a while. It may be more expensive due to the lower price.
Zelnick said that although this might not be the company’s position always, it could change if a subscription landscape changes.
The company isn’t in existence partly because it is the opinion of one person. However, it makes sense that subscription services will be supported by us so we’ll continue to be there. We are open to the idea of working with videogames so that we can prevent an unpredicted future.
Zelnick’s faith in subscription services has dissolved in the past, especially in the practice that Zelnick uses to add games on the day they are released.
Take-Two published The Outer Worlds in 2019. It is the first Xbox game where Zelnick admitted that the move was difficult.
Two of the three Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy The Definitive edition games were added to the Xbox or PlayStation subscription services in November. This was the same day that the GTA Collection was launched.
GTA San Andreas has been added as a part of Xbox Game Pass and GTA III has been added on to PlayStation Now.