In spite of having confirmed himself to be uninterested in video games as a hobby or pastime, Strauss Zelnick is pretty vocal about the state of the industry. As one of the more outspoken publisher leads, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software (publisher of GTA 5) Zelnick has often shares his insights on gaming, much more so than other ranking executives.
Be it related directly to Rockstar Games, 2K and the future of their franchises to general industry topics such as the proliferation of VR, Zelnick has touched upon many topics at conferences and in investor calls which are later publicized. He was the one who confirmed that Take-Two will take E3 by the storm and also alluded to Rockstar working on a new project.
The unfortunate delay of an official announcement didn't put a lock on his lips, though. Ever since a number of AAA publishers began to publicly back VR with their own titles, many fans were questioning if Take-Two planned on carving out their own little plot of land in the all new country of VR with a Rockstar title.
Zelnick's comments on VR questioned the true mainstream appeal of the new medium, citing the high price, large space requirements as well as unrefined mechanics (such as most games using teleportation instead of traditional movement). Due to these concerns, he said that Take-Two will keep away from VR until it is better established.
In his most recent comments, Zelnick visited the subject of the medium's maturity and a return to the risky days of old. Some leaps of faith turn out well, while others manage to sink entire companies. This indicates a change in the mentality of publishers and developers alike.
That's the nature of a mature entertainment business. The really good people do really, really well and then have the assets to invest to do really well again.
While most gamers have considered the industry to be mature for a long time now, the wider non-gamer opinion on gaming has been that the medium is a juvenile one. While this has pretty much been an unfair stereotype stuck on the industry, it was the commonly held belief for a long time.









