Waiting for GTA 6? Take-Two CEO Argues Rockstar Delivers 'New GTAs' Yearly Through Online Updates

If you ask Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, Rockstar Games has released a new Grand Theft Auto game every year since 2013.

In a recent interview with The Game Business, Zelnick made the bold claim that Rockstar has effectively been releasing new Grand Theft Auto titles "a couple of times a year" through Grand Theft Auto Online updates.

Grand Theft Auto fans have been waiting over a decade for the next installment in the beloved franchise, so the statement definitely feels off. But at the same time, is it really wrong?

GTA Online has received substantial content updates over its ten-year lifespan, getting new characters, settings, and even editions.

So far, Grand Theft Auto V has been re-released as Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced Edition, Grand Theft Auto V Expanded and Enhanced, Grand Theft Auto V Enhanced and Grand Theft Auto V Legacy.

While each port is basically the same game, there are significant enough differences between each one, so Zelnick does have a point.

With that said, there's no denying the success of GTA Online has forever changed how Rockstar approaches new releases.

"Our strategy is when we give consumers a hit, they would like to stay engaged," Zelnick explained, framing the extended development cycles as a response to player behavior rather than a business decision. "That requires our teams to create more content quite properly, to support that content and to market that content."

According to the CEO, gaming has transformed from what he calls the "good old days" (or "bad old days depending how you look at it") where studios would "work on a title, release the title, hope for the best, and then make another title."

This perspective offers interesting insight into how Rockstar will handle Grand Theft Auto 6 once it's out on May 26, 2026.

While there's no confirmation yet, there are rumors that Rockstar talked to content creators with plans to turn GTA 6 into the next Fortnite and Roblox.

At the same time, there are reports that Grand Theft Auto 7 might no longer happen because of how long Rockstar plans on supporting GTA 6.

While previous years saw Rockstar cranking out sequels every few years, Rockstar's continuous updates have spanned half a decade or more, even though it hasn't always been met with as much success as GTA Online cough Red Dead Online cough.

And, well, who can blame Take-Two and Rockstar? This strategy has proven enormously profitable, with GTA Online continuing to exceed financial expectations even a decade after launch.

When Rockstar launched GTA Online in 2013 (with major technical issues at start), nobody could have predicted its success. What began as a multiplayer component has evolved into a primary focus for the studio, with Zelnick boasting that "Rockstar is delivering to its consumer base daily, and it has been doing that for quite some time, basically since 2014."

With initial development budgets skyrocketing, perhaps this is the best way to guarantee that Rockstar and Take-Two can continue making multi-generation games for the foreseeable future.

In other GTA 6 news, Zelnick recently downplayed the significance of the GTA 6 delay, hyping it as necessary and part of Rockstar's quest for perfection.