In a recent interview with Wall Street Week's David Westin, which was posted on the Bloomberg Television YouTube channel, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick discussed the company's strategy for GTA VI marketing.
So far, we've only had one trailer released in December 2023. Red Dead Redemption 2 had three trailers scattered over the course of three years, plus a gameplay video and a launch trailer. If this pattern were to be followed, it would inherently mean a delay outside the announced Fall 2025 release window. However, Zelnick outlined a different strategy for GTA VI where the marketing will only kick off in earnest when closer to launch, to balance excitement with 'unmet anticipation'.
The anticipation for that title (GTA VI) may be the greatest anticipation I've ever seen for an entertainment property. And I've been around the block a few times and I've been in every
entertainment business there is, and we want to maintain the anticipation and the excitement. And we do have competitors who will describe their release schedule for years in advance.
We found that the better thing to do is to provide marketing materials relatively close to the release window in order to create that excitement on the one hand and balance the excitement
with unmet anticipation. We don't always get it exactly right, but that's what we are trying to do.
It sounds a lot like the approach championed by Bethesda with Fallout 4, which was announced and released within six months. Of course, GTA VI was announced a long time ago, but it does seem like we'll get more details and trailers about the game relatively close to launch this time around.
It's not just gamers but also competitors who are waiting to know exactly when the most anticipated entertainment product of all time will debut on the market. As reported by analysts, companies are desperate to guess right if GTA VI will launch this Fall or not, as they will have to try and get out of Rockstar's behemoth to stay afloat. It's certainly no coincidence that the current schedule is nearly wide open, with only Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 slated to launch in October and Crimson Desert also planned for the Fall window. Everyone else is waiting to see, just like fans.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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