Take-Two Boss Bullish on GTA 6 Driving PS5, Xbox Sales

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick recently made bold claims about the impact Grand Theft Auto 6 will have on console sales, despite current market trends showing a decline in hardware purchases. In an interview with IGN, Zelnick expressed confidence that the game's release will drive a significant uptick in PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S sales.

"When you have a big title in the market, and we have many of them coming, historically that has sold consoles," Zelnick stated. He went on to predict a "meaningful uptick in console sales in calendar 25 because of the release schedule, not just coming from us, but coming from others."

This optimistic outlook comes at a time when both Sony and Microsoft are facing challenges in moving their current-gen hardware. Although Sony isn't struggling to sell the PlayStation 5 at all, it isn't selling more of its latest console than it did with the Playtation 4 at the same stage of their respective lifecycles, either.

Nintendo, meanwhile, is rumored to have the Switch 2 waiting in the wings. Selling more of either traditional console is going to get more difficult, especially as the Switch 2 is expected to have much more powerful hardware, which Zelnick himself confirmed Take-Two will support.

Despite these market conditions, Zelnick remains unfazed. He believes that GTA 6 will be a system-seller, encouraging fans to jump into the current generation for the first time to experience a game that many have described as the biggest entertainment launch of all time.

Considering that companies like Electronic Arts, Xbox and even Ubisoft are all wary of GTA 6's release date, Zelnick's confidence isn't misplaced. He's right to believe that GTA 6 will have a positive impact on console sales when it comes out later this year. The PlayStation 5 Pro in particular stands to benefit from GTA 6 the most. Although it might struggle to run GTA 6 at 4K 60 FPS, it still stands to offer the best experience for the game until it comes out on the PC, which is already in development.

With only months to go before the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, we won't have to wait too long to find out if Zelnick's predictions will come true and if we will indeed see even more gamers buy a new PS5 or Xbox Series S/X by the time it hits the store shelves.