Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said that he wants GTA and other franchises to “keep going” for as long as the James Bond series of movies.
Speaking at the Jefferies Virtual Global Interactive Entertainment Conference, Zelnick – with answers transcribed by VGC – shared his thoughts on the future of Grand Theft Auto.
Asked if Take-Two’s core franchises have a limited shelf life or if they can keep going forever, Zelnick said that if a franchise is “really, really great it will keep going”. Using the long-standing James Bond series as an example, Zelnick called its latest film – No Time To Die – “great”, and said that “you would like every franchise to be James Bond“. Zelnick then compared the film franchise to several of Take-Two’s titles:
“There are precious few entertainment franchises of any sort that fall into that category, but they do exist. And I think GTA is one of them, I think Red Dead is one of them, NBA is obviously one of them because the game [of basketball] will continue to exist.”
To ensure these franchises manage to last as long as James Bond has, Zelnick says creators must “be thoughtful and be willing to rest a title so that you have a sense of ‘wow, this is a rare event'”.
Stuart C. Wilson / Getty Images
“We take the time to make something that we think is incredibly phenomenal and we also rest titles intentionally so that there’s pent-up demand for that title so that it’s a special event.”
“I go and see a Bond film because there isn’t another one in two months – I’m going to see every Bond film,” added Zelnick.
Finally, Zelnick circled back to the original question:
“Are these franchises permanent? Look, nothing’s permanent, but they can be very, very long-lasting.”
In other news, PC copies of GTA: The Trilogy have been pulled from Rockstar’s store. Players have been unable to play the game since yesterday due to issues with the launcher.
The post Take-Two CEO says ‘GTA’ could be around for as long as ‘James Bond’ appeared first on NME.
