Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, has revealed that the Grand Theft Auto VI Ultimate Edition, which retails for $99.99, is currently taking more preorders than the standard version of the game.
Speaking with CNBC, the executive was asked whether strong preorders for the highly anticipated open-world title would result in the game continuing to perform strongly after launch, or if things would slow down after an initial surge of interest. Here’s what he had to say:
It really depends on the title. In the case of Grand Theft Auto 5, it’s continued to sell, we’ve sold 230 million units and it’s continued to perform through three console generations. So in that case, it was and remains the standard bearer, not just for our company but also for the industry over 13 years. Now, of course we could never project that to occur again, but that is a historical fact.
I think the odds are very high that the pre-orders turn into sales [but] we can’t tell if that’s demand that was pulled forward because of initial excitement of the most avid consumers, or whether it reflects something very different. There’s just no history from which to extrapolate.
When quizzed about what version of the game users are preordering, he replied, “Both. Actually, it is skewing more to the Premium Edition, but that might be a reflection, again, of the fact that the most avid consumers are the ones who are pre-ordering.”
Speaking during a Q&A following Take-Two’s latest earnings report, Strauss described that the publisher is essentially a “digital business,” and as such believes physical game discs “don’t really make sense for the consumer.” However, he didn’t rule out releasing physical editions of its games down the line, liking the process to vinyl in the record business.