Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick killed the Best Buy pre order rumor on Take Two's May 21 earnings call with five words: "We have absolutely no idea."
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked directly about the Best Buy affiliate email during Take-Two's Q4 FY2026 earnings call on May 21, 2026. His response was five words that close the book on a rumor that added $2 billion to the market cap of the company in a single morning before proceeding to lose half of it over the following week:
We have absolutely no idea.
That is the CEO of the company that publishes Grand Theft Auto, speaking under accountability on a recorded investor call, telling Wall Street analysts that Take-Two had no involvement in, no knowledge of, and no explanation for the Best Buy email.
As we've said several times before, the email was indeed real. The only problem? The dates were wrong. So much so that the company whose game was the center of it says they have no idea how any of it happened.
GTA 6 Pre-Order Best Buy Leak Sequence
| Date | Event | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
May 13 | Best Buy affiliate email surfaces with May 18-21 pre-order campaign | Community expects pre-orders and Trailer 3 imminently |
May 14 | Take-Two stock surges 10%, adding $2 billion in market cap | Largest single-day GTA 6 speculation rally |
May 16 | Tom Henderson says pre-orders are not opening Monday | Community splits; debate intensifies |
May 18 | Verified GTAForums source confirms Best Buy got it wrong | Pre-orders do not open |
May 19 | Rockstar posts Red Dead Online update instead of GTA 6 news; stock retreats | ~$1 billion of the rally returned |
May 21 | Zelnick on earnings call: "We have absolutely no idea" | The CEO of Take-Two says the company was not involved |
The table is the definitive timeline of a rumor that moved billions, consumed a week of community attention, dominated gaming press coverage across dozens of outlets, and ended with the CEO of the company at the center of it saying he has no idea where it came from.
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When asked about the marketing timeline, he confirmed that the campaign will be "very significant" and will begin this summer, which doesn't start until at least two months from. He said the approach will "reflect where audiences and attention is today" and explicitly stated it will not resemble the playbook Rockstar Games used for Grand Theft Auto V. He did not provide a specific date for Trailer 3, pre-orders, or any individual marketing beat, nor did he say that Trailer 3 will be part of this marketing campaign.
The pre-order date that the community spent a week obsessing over was never real. The marketing campaign that Zelnick has been promising since iicon on April 28 is real and coming this summer. The two were never connected in any way, shape, or form.
The $8 billion in FY2027 guidance that Take-Two filed on the same call is the detail that actually matters for the November 19 date. That guidance, filed with the SEC, makes delay financially catastrophic. Pre-orders, trailer timing, and marketing beats are all controlled by Rockstar and will happen on Rockstar's schedule. The $8 billion number is Take-Two's schedule, and it is the one that carries legal weight.
GTA V hit nearly 230 million copies sold on the same call, and the franchise as a whole crossed 440 million total units. The release date was reaffirmed with the most declarative language Zelnick has ever used: "We've been really clear that we're releasing the title on November 19."
The Best Buy saga is now officially closed, by the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, on a recorded earnings call, saying "we have absolutely no idea."
The marketing campaign starts this summer. The pre-orders will come when Rockstar decides, and the next time a retailer's affiliate system generates a date, the community has a five-word response from the CEO himself to temper expectations.
"We have absolutely no idea."