Strauss Zelnick at WSJ Tech: GTA 6 Piracy, Delays and the “Not Enough Hits” Question

What did Zelnick say at WSJ Tech?

Official Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke at the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Tech event in Napa Valley on 4 November 2026, two weeks before GTA 6 launches. Three answers made headlines.

“Examine the facts”: Take-Two is not a one-hit company

The interviewer said Take-Two has too few hits outside GTA 6 and noted that its stock is more than 20% below its record high. Zelnick told critics to “examine the facts”. He said Take-Two owns 15 franchises that have each sold at least 5 million copies, and called it “the best collection” of owned IP in games. He named Red Dead Redemption (over 65 million sold), GTA Online, NBA 2K, WWE 2K, BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization and Zynga mobile games such as Words With Friends.

Piracy is “a fact of life”

Asked about piracy, Zelnick said it is “a fact of life” in entertainment. He said film piracy sits around 10–20% of the market, and music piracy once reached about 80% in the mid-2000s. He said GTA 6’s huge file size makes piracy harder, but that if it becomes a real problem Take-Two will use legal action first and then technical measures.

Why the delays were worth it

Zelnick called the GTA 6 delays “expensive and inconvenient decisions” but said they were right. Without naming it, he pointed to a big game that had to be pulled from sale after launch. Outlets read this as Cyberpunk 2077, which Sony removed from the PlayStation Store in 2020. He described game development as slow and expensive but gave no budget figure for GTA 6.

Sources

• GTA BOOM: what Zelnick said when WSJ pressed Take-Two
• GamesRadar+: piracy is “a fact of life”
• GamesRadar+: Take-Two CEO on GTA 6 delays

Labels: Official = Rockstar or the company itself, Reported = previews or press, Unconfirmed = not stated by Rockstar.

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