The CEO of Take-Two Interactive — the parent company that owns GTA developer Rockstar — has called the idea of AI making games like GTA 6 “laughable.”
Talking to The Game Business, Strauss Zelnick reflected on the reception to Google’s Project Genie, which can generate interactive worlds from a text prompt.
Right now, Project Genie is limited to generating interactive experiences it can maintain for up to 60 seconds, with a resolution and frame rate capped at around 720p and 24fps, respectively. Still, Google is selling access as part of its Google AI Ultra subscription, and the tech demo briefly sent game company share prices tumbling. Nonetheless, Zelnick insisted that while it may be able to generate an environment “that might look like NBA 2K or EA Sports FC or Red Dead Redemption,” creating a fully interactive, engaging world “is a completely different animal and does require human engagement [and] human creativity.”
“I was kind of stunned by the market’s reaction, because the market’s reaction was somehow seeing it as a threat to what we do, when it’s quite obvious that creation tools are beneficial for our industry,” Zelnick said. “I think the […] case for big entertainment companies is somehow that AI tools will mean everyone can create hits, doesn’t stand to reason.
“These tools may help you create assets, but that won’t help you create hits. There are loads of assets out there now. It doesn’t matter if you push a button to create an asset, or it takes you six weeks, at the end of the day, you have an asset. And thousands of mobile games are launched every year, and there are a handful of hits.”
Zelnick added: “The notion that somehow new tools would allow an individual to push a button and generate a hit, market a hit, and bring it to many millions of consumers around the world — it’s a laughable notion,” Zelnick said. “It’s just never been the case with entertainment.”
The issue of generative AI’s impact on the creative industries is one of the hottest topics in all entertainment. Some in the video game world are all in on the tech, however. The CEO of Genvid — the company behind choose-your-own-adventure interactive series like Silent Hill Ascension — has claimed “consumers generally do not care” about generative AI, and stated that: “Gen Z loves AI slop.” EA CEO Andrew Wilson has said AI is “the very core of our business,” and Square Enix recently implemented mass layoffs and reorganized, saying it needed to be “aggressive in applying AI.” Dead Space creator Glen Schofield also recently detailed his plans to “fix” the industry in part via the use of generative AI in game development, and former God of War dev Meghan Morgan Juinio said: “… if we don’t embrace [AI], I think we’re selling ourselves short.”
As for GTA 6, Zelnick recently said marketing for GTA 6 kicks off this summer, ahead of its now seemingly locked-in November 19, 2026, release date. The price of GTA 6 continues to be one of the hottest topics in all of video games, with some expecting Rockstar to charge up to $100 for the game, although there’s no evidence either way right now. One thing Zelnick has been clear on, however, is denying rumors that GTA 6 will be a digital-only release upon its initial launch. Recently, PlayStation gamers began fooling their friends by adding GTA 6 to their Recently Played list.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
