Take-Two CEO'su, GTA 6'nın Lansmanına Yaklaşırken Stüdyo Satın Almalarını Gündeme Getirdi

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick told investors that the company plans to spend at least some of the cash from Grand Theft Auto 6 on acquiring additional game development studios. The remarks came during the publisher's latest earnings call, first reported by Kotaku, and followed a question from a Baird analyst about whether the GTA 6 windfall would primarily return to shareholders.

Zelnick outlined three uses for capital. The first is organic growth, meaning continued investment in new games across the publisher's labels. The second is inorganic growth: acquiring other studios. The third is returning capital to shareholders, which Zelnick said Take-Two has done before and will likely do again.

He spent the most time on acquisitions. Zelnick said all of Take-Two's deals have been "creative" in the sense that they target video games, and "successful in our nearly two-decade period." He framed that record as unusual for a publisher that has bought as many companies as Take-Two has.

"I'm proud to say that all of our acquisitions have turned out to be creative and successful in our nearly two-decade period. That's pretty breathtaking for corporations, it's not generally the case. And I think that's because we're immensely disciplined. You're not going to see us doing deals hand over first, but assuming our balance sheet continues to improve, I think you could imagine more inorganic growth in the future as well. And we already said in this release today that we expect to be in a net cash position by the end of this fiscal year."

— Strauss Zelnick

Take-Two has acquired roughly 45 companies in its history, most of them folded into its three publishing arms: 2K, Rockstar Games, and Zynga. Since 2020, about eight deals have closed, including the Zynga acquisition and the Gearbox Entertainment purchase that brought the Borderlands 4 developer into the group.

Zelnick named no targets. Kotaku raised Remedy Entertainment as one possibility, given that Rockstar is currently working with the Finnish studio on a remake of the original Max Payne titles. Other names floated include pieces of Electronic Arts, which is being acquired by the Saudi Arabian government, and Ubisoft, which has been working to repair its finances and may be willing to sell off individual studios.

The acquisition's language sits inside a much larger revenue picture. Take-Two confirmed the GTA 6 release date is 100% set 100% set for November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, with no delay. The publisher is forecasting around $8 billion dollars in revenue for the next fiscal year, in a range between $8.0 billion and $8.2 billion, driven by the GTA 6 launch and the existing live-service catalog. A PC version of the game has not been formally announced, though Zelnick's remarks about Take-Two serving the PC market over time indirectly point to a port arriving after the console release.

I think Take-Two will let the GTA 6 money sit on the balance sheet for months before any deal is even floated, given how Zelnick framed the "net cash position" expected by year-end. I see Remedy as the most logical target because of the existing Max Payne collaboration, but Zelnick was clear that a deal only happens "when it's a creative," which in practice means a developer Take-Two believes will produce games it wants in its catalog.

Zelnick also addressed other projects' marketing strategy on the call and in a separate Variety interview, confirming that the GTA 6 campaign starts on June 21. That date is when pre-orders are expected to open and when Rockstar Games is widely anticipated to release the third GTA 6 trailer. In an IGN interview, Zelnick rejected the idea that GTA 6 could skip marketing entirely on franchise strength alone, comparing the title to a Mission: Impossible sequel that still requires a full campaign even with Tom Cruise attached.

WWE 2K27 was also confirmed during the call, alongside reaffirmed plans for new releases across the 2K and Rockstar pipelines through fiscal 2027. Zelnick described the fiscal 2026 result as exceeding internal expectations at every level, with fiscal 2027 set to establish a new record operating performance on the back of the GTA 6 launch and broader portfolio execution.

Read also, Rockstar Games has confirmed that GTA Online will continue to operate after GTA 6 launches, with Zelnick citing the resilience of GTA V, which has now reached 230 million units sold across three console generations.