Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes adding a game like Call of Duty to Game Pass will inevitably attract more consumers to subscribe, but he said only temporarily.
Take-Two offers its older games through subscription services, but is skeptical about making new AAA titles available at launch. Zelnick says it doesn’t make economic sense for the company.
Despite Microsoft’s plans to include Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in Game Pass in October, Zelnick insists that won’t affect Take-Two’s decisions. “Our decisions are rational,” he says.
Take-Two posted modest growth in the first quarter, but it was a quiet year for the company. Core brands like GTA Online and NBA 2K were no longer generating the growth the company had seen in previous years. However, there was success in mobile games, particularly with Match Factory and Toon Blast.
The company has implemented three phases of cost-cutting over the past 18 months, including layoffs, and Zelnick says Take-Two is now well-aligned with the current market environment.
Take-Two is focusing on the “most creative, innovative and effective” projects. The company has narrowed its production line, focusing on titles that have the most success. However, the biggest profit will come from the premiere of GTA 6, which is scheduled for late 2025.
