"Take-Two CEO Optimistic About Nintendo Switch 2"

We're less than a month away from the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, and amid all the buzz about pricing, tariffs, game key cards, and other issues, one third-party publisher is feeling confident about the console: Take-Two Interactive.

In a recent Q&A with investors following the company's full year earnings report, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed "great optimism" about Nintendo's new platform. He highlighted that Nintendo's support for third-party publishers has improved significantly compared to previous efforts:

"We're launching four titles with Nintendo Switch 2, and that's I think a bigger array of releases than we've ever offered before with a new Nintendo platform. Historically, being a third party in the Nintendo business has been a bit challenging. I think Nintendo has been very forthcoming in addressing that. And we're stepping up too, because we have great optimism for the platform. In terms of what we would bring to any platform, we address it on a case-by-case basis, we obviously want to be where the consumers are. But we would not necessarily bring every title to every platform. There are also great catalog opportunities as well."

Take-Two Interactive plans to release four titles for the Nintendo Switch 2: Civilization 7 on launch day (June 5), the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series (specific titles and release dates yet to be announced), and Borderlands 4 on September 12. These choices are not surprising, given that Take-Two already publishes these franchises on the original Nintendo Switch. However, Zelnick's comments suggest that the door might be open for additional releases in the future, particularly from Take-Two's extensive back catalog. While GTA 6 is unlikely to be included, there's a possibility that GTA V could eventually make its way to the platform.

Ahead of the investor call, we had the opportunity to speak directly with Zelnick about the company's performance over the past quarter. This included discussions on the development timeline for GTA 6 and his thoughts on the game's recent delay to next year.