Take-Two Boss Says Call Of Duty On Game Pass Will Help Drive Memberships "For A Period Of Time"

As a seasoned gamer with decades of experiences under my belt, I can’t help but appreciate the wisdom and foresight of Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive. His insights into the interactive entertainment industry are not only insightful but also rooted in a deep understanding of consumer behavior and market trends.


According to Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive, offering major games as part of a subscription service like Game Pass could undeniably boost membership numbers. However, he cautioned that this strategy might not be sustainable for an extended period. In a recent interview, Zelnick stated that Microsoft’s decision to include Black Ops 6 on Game Pass from launch won’t impact Take-Two’s decisions regarding its own games.

And why is that? “Because our decisions are rational,” he told GI.biz.

As an enthusiast, I’d put it this way: “I believe that releasing a top-tier game simultaneously on a subscription platform at a higher price point would tempt fans to subscribe for a while, at least until they’ve had their fill of the game.”

For quite some time now, Zelnick has been expressing a similar sentiment. Back in 2021, he explained that Take-Two doesn’t release its major new games on subscription services at launch due to the complex economics involved. More recently, in 2022, he stated that such a move lacks economic sense.

Zelnick argues that the traditional entertainment industry (TV/movies) and the interactive entertainment sector (gaming) have substantial differences, and while a subscription model might be practical for the former, he’s not convinced it would work effectively in gaming.

“He pointed out that the interactive entertainment industry is distinct from traditional linear entertainment. People tend to spend fewer hours on interactive content in a month compared to linear content. Additionally, there are significantly fewer unique interactive titles consumed compared to linear ones. This raises a question about whether subscriptions work as effectively for interactive entertainment as they do for linear entertainment. He expressed some reservations, which he has not yet abandoned.”

In Zelnick’s words, introducing a significant new game through a subscription service is merely a missed chance for the publisher.

Over time, Take-Two Interactive Software has tried introducing some of its flagship games like Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 onto platforms such as Game Pass and PS Plus. These games have been added and removed from their libraries. However, Zelnick has suggested that it could be logical to offer older games on a subscription service, but for new releases, Take-Two is not considering this approach at the moment.

Unlike Microsoft, which releases its exclusive games onto Xbox Game Pass on their launch day, Sony does not follow this practice with its PlayStation Plus subscription service. Previously, PlayStation’s former president, Jim Ryan, shared similar views with Zelnick, suggesting that this approach doesn’t seem financially viable for Sony.

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2024-08-09 16:10