If you were holding out hope that GTA 6 could arrive on Xbox Game Pass or the PlayStation Plus catalog before long, you’re out of luck.
Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Zelnick said that whilst he accepted “offering a frontline title with a premium price in a subscription service, day and date, will push consumers to that subscription service for at least a period of time”, “it won’t affect [Take-Two’s] decisions [not to offer AAA games on subscription services on day one]”.
With “15 immersive core” games on Take-Two’s books for 2026 and 2027 – one of which is GTA 6, of course – as well as one indie, five mobile games, and three remasters, Zelnick says it’s his company’s “job to outperform the industry, and the one way to do that is to generate big hits, and I think we have all the necessary elements to deliver that.”
The next Grand Theft Auto is just around the corner, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick believes that GTA 6 coming to subscription services isn’t the right move.
In recent years, subscription services have become far more prominent in gaming, with both Microsoft and Sony fans now being able to access an extensive array of titles on their home consoles for a monthly fee.
Xbox Game Pass even drops new AAA releases on its service on day one, which is how a lot of fans plan to play the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
But it seems as though GTA 6 will not be coming to any form of subscription service, at least not in the foreseeable future.
Will GTA 6 Ever Come to a Subscription Service?
Following the recent Take-Two Interactive earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick sat down for a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
In the interview, Zelnick commented that services offering a major new release on subscription services on day one is sure to increase business, at least temporarily.
However, it appears that the CEO doesn’t believe that this sort of business model would be a good fit for Take-Two.
“No, it won’t affect our decisions,” Zelnick says. “Because our decisions are rational.”
It certainly wouldn’t be rational to put a game as highly-anticipated as GTA 6 on a pay-to-play service. After all, Grand Theft Auto 5, the game’s predecessor, made a billion dollars in its first three days on sale and currently holds the record as the fastest-selling entertainment product of all time.
Judging by just how popular GTA 6 is already, it’s almost certain to beat that record when it launches in Fall 2025.
And we’re sure Take-Two wouldn’t want anything eating into those profits, especially given how much time and money it takes to build a new Grand Theft Auto.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Strauss Zelnick be critical towards subscription services, claiming in 2022 that they “don’t make sense economically,” at least when it comes to Take-Two Interactive projects.
Don’t Expect GTA+ to Expand
This appears to rule out the possibility of a Rockstar Games subscription allowing players to access GTA 6 and other iconic titles for a monthly fee.
Some fans were concerned about the introduction of GTA+, GTA Online’s premium membership that grants players special in-game bonuses each month.
GTA+ subscribers already have access to legacy titles such as L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and GTA: The Trilogy—The Definitive Edition, but it appears that there are no plans to turn this into a Game Pass competitor.
It’s worth noting that GTA 5 has been on both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra in the past.
However, these appear to be timed deals with Microsoft and Sony, as the games have been shown to leave the services after a period.
Could this mean that GTA 6 may one day arrive on other subscription services? Maybe. But we certainly wouldn’t expect that day to come anytime in the next few years.
As for how much GTA 6 will cost to buy outright, that’s still rather unclear.
