- Strauss Zelnick says piracy is a 'fact of life' for the entertainment industry.
- Zelnick believes video game piracy is less of a concern due to game file sizes, complexity, and server requirements.
- Take-Two plans to use legal and technical measures if piracy becomes a serious problem.
With GTA 6 just a few days away from its official launch, piracy is naturally becoming a talking point among gamers, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn’t appear particularly alarmed. During a recent interview at the Wall Street Journal tech conference, Zelnick acknowledged that piracy is inevitable in entertainment but explained why it may be a lesser threat to video games than other media.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick Isn’t Worried About GTA 6 Piracy
When asked about piracy and how Take-Two plans to handle it, Zelnick offered a candid response. “I’m worried about everything all the time despite being very laid-back“, he said before explaining that piracy has been a constant throughout his career in entertainment. Zelnick stated:
Piracy is a fact of life.
He recalls his time in the movie business, where the company estimated that 10% to 20% of its business was pirated at any given time. The situation was even more difficult in the music industry, where he argued that piracy accounted for around 80% of the market in the mid-2000s.
However, Zelnick believes that interactive entertainment has a few advantages. “Piracy is less of an issue in interactive entertainment, but it’s not been a non-issue,” he explained, pointing to the enormous file sizes and complexity of some of the best video games.
That doesn’t mean that Take-Two plans to ignore the problem. Zelnick said if piracy becomes a significant issue, the company will respond with “legal and technical work.”
The CEO further noted that Rockstar’s games rely heavily on server connectivity for a good experience. As he put it, players would have to set up competitive servers themselves to replicate GTA 6, and “it won’t be a good experience.” This would make pirated copies less appealing to players.
In addition to that, reports surrounding PS5 jailbreaks have added another layer to the discussion. Recently, a PS5 firmware update just dropped, and some reports indicate that GTA 6 could require firmware version 14.22. This would naturally make it difficult for players with jailbroken consoles to access the game.
Ultimately, Zelnick’s comments suggest that Take-Two sees piracy as a manageable challenge rather than a threat capable of derailing GTA 6. While you wait for the GTA 6 release, have a look at our GTA 6 preload guide to learn about the requirements.
