Take-two CEO Says Human Creativity Drives Hits, GTA 6 on Track
WHO:
IGN - Stephen Kick, head of Nightdive Studios, said the studio had not used AI for about a year but sees it as a potential tool for remastering and reverse engineering games.
IGN - Former Rockstar North technical director Obbe Vermeij said AI-converted GTA 6 versions could be inferior to Rockstar’s work but still hurt sales.
IGN - Omdia analysts James McWhirter and Liam Deane said AI was unlikely to seriously disrupt GTA 6’s launch.
IGN - Rami Ismail, Vlambeer co-founder, said AI agents scan social media for games gaining momentum and may clone games they can reproduce.
Eurogamer.net - Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two Interactive Software’s CEO, said hit-game creation “remains the purview of human beings,” with human creativity harnessing technology.
IGN - Zelnick said Rockstar’s developers and Take-Two’s other labels would continue receiving support to make high-quality entertainment.
IGN - Take-Two said GTA 6 preorders were tracking “far in excess” of its initial expectations.
IGN - Zelnick said GTA Online had remained resilient and continued to grow; Take-Two intends to keep supporting it.
IGN - Zelnick said NBA 2K27 sold 4 million units and was the franchise’s second-best release, despite coming in below Take-Two’s forecast.
Aftermath - Australian developer House House said large language models (LLMs) were used sparingly during Big Walk’s final development stretch; it estimated well under 0.1% of the game’s code was connected to that use.
WHAT:
Eurogamer.net - Zelnick said GTA 6’s success would “set a new baseline” for Take-Two’s gaming business.
IGN - Omdia analyst Liam Deane said an unofficial PC version would likely be an unattractive experience for 99% of players.
IGN - Nightdive’s Stephen Kick predicted publishers might eventually stream games instead of providing copies, to prevent game files from being reverse-engineered.
Eurogamer.net - Zelnick said Take-Two was strengthening technical defenses and legal activity against AI-assisted piracy, which he expected to be manageable.
Eurogamer.net - Zelnick said new technology can make asset creation easier, but making a major hit remains difficult.
IGN - Zelnick stated, “It’s not going to be delayed again,” referring to GTA 6.
IGN - Zelnick said Take-Two was working toward a smooth GTA 6 delivery experience; Hannah Sage, the company’s finance EVP and chief accounting officer, said preload would begin “tomorrow” to reduce launch impact.
IGN - Zelnick said the content and release pace of iconic franchises, including GTA, would look “dramatically different over the next decade.”
IGN - Zelnick said GTA 6’s release timing may have affected NBA 2K27’s performance.
IGN - Zelnick said Borderlands had sold over 100 million units as a franchise.
IGN - The article describes GTA 6 as a 212GB game and reports analysts’ view that an unofficial AI-made PC version would be a poor experience and unlikely to attract 99% of players.
Aftermath - House House said generative AI was not used in any other context while making Big Walk. It disclosed the use after it became a matter of public interest and said the game had been made without an internal AI-use policy.
WHERE:
Eurogamer.net - Zelnick discussed the issues during Take-Two’s earnings call.
IGN - Take-Two said GTA Online would continue to receive support, without specifying a location.
Aftermath - House House said it had not disclosed the code or chatbot use on Steam because the platform did not request that disclosure.
WHEN:
Eurogamer.net - Take-Two’s Q2 fiscal-year 2027 earnings call included investor questions about AI and GTA 6.
IGN - The interview described GTA 6 as due to launch 10 days after it was conducted; the article gives no calendar launch date.
IGN - Analysts said an unofficial AI-assisted PC version was unlikely to disrupt GTA 6’s launch in the short term.
Aftermath - House House said LLMs were used during Big Walk’s final development stretch and that it would establish a more comprehensive AI policy going forward.
WHY:
IGN - James McWhirter said console shortages of memory and storage could make a PC release more important to expanding GTA 6’s audience.
IGN - Rami Ismail said indie developers using AI coding tools could be vulnerable if subscription prices rise; he cited a hypothetical increase from $99 to $1,400.
Eurogamer.net - Zelnick said game piracy had historically been limited by factors including file size, console ecosystems, and online play, but AI posed a threat.
IGN - Analysts attributed a possible earlier PC release partly to console supply constraints caused by shortages of memory and storage.
Aftermath - House House said LLM chatbots helped research a technical problem involving shadow-caster culling in Unity URP.
HOW:
IGN - Omdia’s McWhirter said PlayStation may use advanced AI models to find and patch console firmware vulnerabilities before modders exploit them.
Aftermath - House House said a chatbot suggested a possible fix after other research failed; developers extensively modified it, producing a fix of about 10 lines of code inside URP.
IGN - Zelnick said Take-Two protects its intellectual property and that companies should protect both their own and others’ IP.
(UPDATED November 10, 2026 13:01 UTC)
Take-Two says GTA 6 preorders far exceed expectations, and the game won’t be delayed. CEO Strauss Zelnick says human creativity remains essential as the company fights AI-assisted piracy. Analysts say unofficial AI-made versions are unlikely to disrupt the launch.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 10:00 UTC)
Take-Two says GTA 6 preorders are far exceeding expectations, and the game won’t be delayed again. CEO Strauss Zelnick says human creativity remains central to making hits, despite technology’s growing role. Developer House House says AI tools contributed minimally to Big Walk’s code during final development.