While fans are growing restless amid the long wait for GTA 6 was recently delayed into 2026, which will result in an eight-year gap since Rockstar's last game, 2018's Red Dead Redemption 2.

Take-Two CEO Stauss Zelnick spoke with The Game Business (via GamesRadar) about Rockstar's protracted development cycles, arguing:

"In the case of Grand Theft Auto, we have Grand Theft Auto Online, and Rockstar has been supplying content to Grand Theft Auto Online, some of which is so robust that if you go back 15 years, it would have counted as a standalone title. One could really argue that Rockstar has been putting out a new Grand Theft Auto release a couple of times a year."

Zelnick points to the evolving industry, noting that "consumers engage on an ongoing basis" with games, whereas years ago, Rockstar would "work on a title, release the title, hope for the best, and then make another title." Take-Two's business has followed this change:

"Our strategy is when we give consumers a hit, they would like to stay engaged. And that requires our teams to create more content quite properly, to that content and to market that content. The business has become a worldwide, ongoing business. I would argue that Rockstar is delivering to its consumer base daily, and it has been doing that for quite some time, basically since 2014."

Take-Two CEO Says GTA Online Updates Are Equivalent To Full Releases

Ongoing Games Have Taken Over The Industry

Zelnick's invocation of the state of the industry 15 years ago points to the last period in which Rockstar could be considered prolific in its output of new games. Between 2010 and GTA 5's release in 2013, Rockstar released The Ballad of Gay Tony's PS3 and PC ports, Red Dead Redemption, its Undead Nightmare expansion, L.A. Noire, and Max Payne 3. Such output has largely been replaced by effectively dead Red Dead Online.

The assertion made by Zelnick is that Rockstar never ceased its impressive output, but has merely switched gears to delivering most of its content through GTA Online. The multiplayer game, which began as an addendum to GTA 5, has released at least two major content updates each year since its inception. Whether these equate to full game releases is up for debate.

Our Take: Rockstar’s Long Dev Cycles Make Sense, But GTA Online Updates Aren’t Full Games

GTA Online Was Prioritized Because Of Its Profit

To Zelnick's credit, his insight is interesting, and I don't think he's necessarily being defensive. He's merely pointing out that, despite the long wait for GTA 6, Rockstar is still putting out regular content – but the fact that it's considered "content" is a major component of the issue. Players largely understand why development takes so long nowadays, especially for ambitious games like Rockstar's, but it's almost silly to equate a GTA Online update to Red Dead Redemption (released 15 years ago).

Players are antsy about playing GTA 6 because they want new experiences, not new missions to complete in a 12-year-old game. Unfortunately for Zelnick, it would be even more inflammatory for him to candidly address why GTA Online has been such a priority: it makes boat-loads of cash. All the industry's major companies are chasing live-service profits, and Take-Two just happened to have struck gold with GTA Online. Zelnick is just defending the business model, which is fine, but to suggest GTA Online: Agents of Sabotage is in the same echelon as a standalone title – in other words, a title like Grand Theft Auto 6 – is disingenuous.

Source: The Game Business (via GamesRadar)