At a conference, the boss of the large publisher Take-Two explains why it might be beneficial to wait a bit longer with the release of sequels to major titles. As an example of such a game series, he mentions GTA, where players are waiting for GTA 6. However, Zelnick says that when you let a series rest, the release later feels like a big event.
Who is speaking? The CEO of publisher Take-Two, Harry Strauss Zelnick (64), spoke at the conference “Jeffries Virtual Global Interactive Entertainment Conference.”
Major game series need to rest, which increases demand
This is his thesis: Strauss Zelnick said that sometimes it is good to intentionally wait before continuing a major game series with the release of a new title. It can be advantageous to deliberately delay the release to let the series “rest,” increasing anticipation among fans.
This especially applies to the “most valuable series,” of which there are only a few.
According to his view, such important series for his company include:
- GTA – he names this first
- Red Dead Redemption
- NBA
- Borderlands
- BioShock
- Civilization
Zelnick says that for these titles, one must also be willing to let the series rest a bit so that the impression arises: “Wow, such things happen rarely.”
Zelnick believes:
„I have always said that if you release non-sports titles every year, you risk burning out the series, even if it’s good.”
Harry Strauss Zelnick
GTA like the James Bond series
How does he justify this? Zelnick says that if you do something, it must be incredibly good. Titles are also intentionally let to rest so that the demand for the title rises and it becomes a special event.
Zelnick uses the “James Bond” series as a comparison. He says that when he sees a Bond film, he knows that no other Bond film will come out in one or two months. He will watch every Bond film, but if one is bad, he sees it almost as a personal insult because he enjoys the series so much.
It’s the same with Rockstar.
GTA Online creates the same situation for GTA as Warzone does for Call of Duty
What’s behind this: It seems a bit contradictory because the release of GTA 5 was already 8 years ago: The title should actually be “rested.” But GTA 5 is in a special situation.
Zelnick does not name the series but refers to a large series that releases “non-sport titles” annually, which is actually Call of Duty.
Since with Call of Duty: Warzone now a Call of Duty spin-off is permanently playable and being expanded, interest in the new title “Call of Duty: Vanguard” is significantly lower than in earlier parts of the series.
Here, Activision Blizzard indeed risks burning out the series, which Zelnick notes as a danger for “yearly released titles.” Ubisoft has also mentioned that titles like “The Division 2” or “Ghost Recon Wildlands” came too early after their predecessors. This contributed to the commercial flop of the successor titles.
Rockstar is in a similar situation with “GTA Online” as Activision Blizzard with Call of Duty: The GTA series has in itself rested for 8 years and it should actually not be an issue. However, because “GTA Online” is so popular, Strauss Zelnick might see this as a problem.
Apparently, Take-Two is simply not in a hurry with GTA 6, which seems contradictory. The release of GTA 5 was already 8 years ago, and the demand for a new GTA is immensely high. However, Take-Two apparently does not see this as a problem – also because GTA Online continues to make a lot of money even years after its release:
