Take-Two Boss Says Even the Biggest Franchises Need Pre-Release Marketing, as GTA 6 Trailer 3 Wait Continues

It's been a full year since the last GTA 6 trailer dropped. Rockstar set the internet ablaze with GTA 6 Trailer 2 in May 2025, which itself arrived over a year after Trailer 1. The wait for Trailer 3 drags on, and fans are struggling. But does GTA 6 even need a third trailer to succeed? As the most anticipated entertainment property ever, could it get away with showing no gameplay before launch?

I posed that question to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ahead of the company's fiscal year 2026 financial report. While he kept his cards close, he spoke generally about all entertainment properties needing to engage consumers before release—no matter how big. He used Mission: Impossible and Tom Cruise to illustrate his point.

“Well, look, I mean, Rockstar is going to talk about all things GTA in the fullness of time,” Zelnick began. “So I can speak conceptually only about the marketing of entertainment properties. And I do think no matter how big a franchise is, the consumers need to engage with that prior to release. And I think the motion picture business reflects that as well.

“So if you put out a sequel to Mission: Impossible, trust me, the studio is still going to spend a whole lot of money marketing that title, even though we kind of know what we're going to get and we know we're going to see Tom Cruise, and we're thrilled that we will. Marketing is still an important part of any entertainment release.”

Take-Two has said Rockstar will kick off GTA 6 marketing this summer (pre-orders expected at the same time), and today it reaffirmed the November release date, quashing delay concerns. Take-Two expects revenue of $8-8.2 billion in fiscal year 2027, a 20% increase year-over-year, primarily due to GTA 6. With revenue of $6.72 billion in fiscal 2026, the GTA 6 effect could be up to $1.5 billion.

Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that Take-Two has spent an estimated $1-1.5 billion on GTA 6 so far. It's expected to be the biggest entertainment launch ever, breaking records for game sales and revenue. Rockstar hasn't announced the price yet, and the industry is watching to see if GTA 6 will exceed $70.

GTA 6 launches on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on November 19, 2026.