Grand Theft Auto VI may well just be the most anticipated game we have ever seen and will ever see. Excitement is high, but there's also a lot of anxiety, especially from the developer side at Rockstar, and the publisher side at Take-Two. No one is unaware of how much is riding on this game, and Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said the expectations are "terrifying" even sitting somewhat far from the front lines.
"I think here our goal is to deliver to consumers something that's never been experienced before. Being on the sidelines but pretty close to the front of the sidelines is very, very exciting. And terrifying. Because the expectations are so high," Zelnick told Bloomberg in a recent interview.
Considering that Grand Theft Auto VI is projected by some analysts to sell 25 million copies in its first day, it's believed by Zelnick and co. that to sell 10 million copies for the game would be a complete disaster. 10 million copies is a figure most of Grand Theft Auto VI's competitors would be overjoyed by. Some recent big budget titles have found tremendous success selling around 5 million copies, like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Crimson Desert. Not GTA.
"Development costs have gone up and up. And we really do aim to deliver the highest quality entertainment on Earth. And that is costly. And AI influence is not withstanding. We haven't seen those costs decline yet. Maybe we will. Maybe we won't," Zelnick explained. He also said that the way in which Rockstar makes games is very specific, as they provide an experience no one else does. "That's a high-stakes game for big boys only, and I'm cool with it," he said.
The world might be expecting Grand Theft Auto VI to be a big success, but Zelnick will not count his chickens before they've hatched: "We never claim success before it occurs. We have the most amazing creative teams. We not only encourage them to pursue their passions, we insist that they do it. We try to give them unlimited financial, creative human resources and then they aim to deliver perfection."
Still, it seems like Grand Theft Auto VI will be a launch to remember if it meets its date of the 19th of November, 2026.