Take-Two Interactive’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, has recently emphasized the growing prominence of PC gaming within the overall market. This statement could be seen as a hopeful precursor to an announcement regarding the much-anticipated release date for Grand Theft Auto 6 on PC. Alternatively, it may serve as a reassuring message to investors concerned about the declining sales of console games.
Anticipation for GTA 6
The new installment of Grand Theft Auto is set to launch on Xbox and PlayStation platforms in the fall of 2025. As is customary with Rockstar Games, the release date for the PC version remains to be announced. Historical context reveals that GTA 5 made its PC debut approximately 18 months after its initial release on Xbox 360 and PS3, while GTA 4 followed with an eight-month delay, and Red Dead Redemption 2 was released a year later.
This pattern of staggered PC releases continues, despite Zelnick’s remarks in a recent interview with Ian Games, where he noted that the PC version of a multiplatform title can contribute over 40% to total sales. He stated, “We have seen PC become a much more and more important part of what used to be a console business, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that trend continue. Of course, there will be a new console generation.”
The Console Landscape
The console industry is currently experiencing a period of gradual evolution. Notably, Nintendo is the only major player to have announced new hardware, while details regarding the next iterations of PlayStation and Xbox remain under wraps. This uncertainty has led to a stagnation in console sales, with existing systems resembling long-forgotten dragons, gradually losing their market presence.
Zelnick believes that the release of GTA 6 could provide a much-needed boost to console sales, even amidst a politically charged environment marked by trade disputes. He remarked, “When you have a big title in the market, and we have many of them coming, historically that has sold consoles. I think that will happen this year. I don’t think tariffs are going to be our friend, but I think there will be a meaningful uptick in console sales in calendar 25 because of the release schedule, not just coming from us, but coming from others. So I’m not concerned about that [console sales falling]. I think the trend that you’d want to focus on is this increasing share of the market that is reflected in PC.”
The Mystery of Late PC Releases
The lingering question remains: when will the PC release date for GTA 6 be announced? While it’s difficult to pinpoint Rockstar’s rationale for delaying PC versions, it seems unlikely that resource constraints are the issue, given the company’s extensive development team and ongoing revenue from GTA 5 re-releases and GTA Online. A plausible explanation is that releasing on PC later allows for maximizing initial console sales, followed by a refined version for the more powerful PC platform and potentially the next generation of consoles.
