Take-Two CEO Hails 'Astonishing' GTA 6 Pre-Orders, Explains Lack Of Disc Version

We've very much on the path towards GTA 6's release now - Take-Two has reconfirmed today as part of their earnings release that it's still scheduled for November 19th, while also hyping up the "Extended Look" on Netflix in late August.

It's yet to have been revealed what kind of sales we're looking at for pre-orders alone, but Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has described them as "unprecedented", "astonishing" and "exceptional".

Here's a bit of what he had to say, as transcribed by Variety:

"I can say that the level of pre-orders is unprecedented and astonishing, and we’re very grateful for that. But they are so unprecedented that we just don’t know how it’ll translate into sales, which is a question I answered earlier. We genuinely don’t, and we just don’t believe in claiming victory before it occurs."

Zelnick also mentioned today that he believes "Rockstar got it right in terms of the pricing" for both the Standard and Deluxe editions of GTA 6, which are priced at £69.99 / $79.99 and £89.99 / $99.99 respectively. He says that customers appear to be excited about both versions, and they've got an option to choose "depending on your own ability to pay and how avid a consumer you are".

It's interesting that Take-Two appears to have allowed Rockstar to set their own pricing structure for the upcoming Grand Theft Auto, and clearly it's worked out great for everyone involved. We'll have to wait a little bit longer for actual sales figures, but all signs are pointing to this being the most successful video game release of all time.

However, one comment that's going to undoubtedly dominate the headlines today relates to his thoughts about disc versions of games, and that he ultimately believes they're unnecessary in some cases. As transcribed by Kotaku, Zelnick explained that his company "understands" that the industry is going in a digital direction, and that it doesn't make sense (even for the consumer) to release a disc version of their games in certain instances.

"I’m not going to comment on Sony’s own decision. But in terms of our decision, look, our business is well over 90 percent digitally distributed as is. It is already a digital business. So in certain instances, especially if it is a big game, discs (and note I said discs) don’t really make sense for the consumer."

"Also, in most instances, you have to register online to play anyhow, so if you are already connected, like, who cares if you download digitally? It’s all the same, and it’s much more convenient."

"So that’s where the world is going in our opinion. And I think Sony understands that; we certainly understand that. That doesn’t mean we won’t have physical editions now and then; I’m sure we will in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business. In other instances, it just won’t make sense."

We'll let you be the judge on those comments, but it seems pretty evident based on what's being said here that GTA 6 won't get a physical disc release anytime soon, although a code-in-a-box version is already being sold at retailers.

Who knows if that might change down the line once GTA 6 is out — perhaps it'll ship on disc as part of a special release in the future — and we'll be sure to let you know if anything changes in that department for Xbox Series X.

Have you pre-ordered GTA 6? What do you think about the lack of a disc version? Tell us in the comments.