Take-Two Interactive chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick not too long ago sat down with Bloomberg to speak all issues video video games. The dialog is fairly stuffy in case you don’t have a lot curiosity within the enterprise facet of issues, however Zelnick did present some perception into how subsidiary Rockstar Video games is dealing with Grand Theft Auto 6 advertising and marketing, particularly stating that the developer won’t put out a second trailer for the extremely anticipated recreation till we get nearer to its tentative fall 2025 launch window.
“We do have rivals who will describe their launch schedule for years prematurely,” Zelnick advised Bloomberg anchor David Westin as the 2 spoke in an workplace filled with pseudo-shrines to the corporate’s previous successes. “We discovered that the higher factor to do is to offer advertising and marketing supplies comparatively near the discharge window to be able to create that pleasure on the one hand and steadiness the thrill with unmet anticipation. We don’t at all times get it precisely proper, however that’s what we try to do.”
Going by Rockstar’s earlier video games, it is a technique the studio has employed earlier than. The preliminary Grand Theft Auto 5 trailer was launched on November 2, 2011, however didn’t get a second till greater than a 12 months afterward April 30, 2013. Equally, Purple Useless Redemption 2’s first trailer debuted on October 16, 2016, however it took till September 28, 2017 to get a second. Each video games’ advertising and marketing campaigns picked up as they obtained nearer to launch, however even then, Rockstar has by no means been about inundating the trade with industrial after industrial main as much as a serious recreation like some studios.
Whereas the starvation this creates in followers can generally be overwhelming, it additionally has the good thing about creating a unique type of advertising and marketing for which Rockstar doesn’t should foot the invoice. Again in November 2024, Polygon reported on a fan idea that the stage of the moon in a Grand Theft Auto On-line screenshot was a clue in direction of when the following Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer would drop. Did this find yourself being true? Completely not — however it was a enjoyable option to cowl one thing foolish individuals have been doing on-line as they awaited probably the most anticipated video games on the horizon.
“The anticipation for [Grand Theft Auto 6] could be the biggest I’ve ever seen for an leisure property,” Zelnick mentioned when Bloomberg requested concerning the recreation’s secretive launch date, “and I’ve been across the block just a few instances and I’ve been in each leisure enterprise there’s. We need to keep the anticipation and the thrill.”
