GTA 5 on PS5 and XSX - Take-Two CEO Believes the Remaster Makes Sense

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke on the company's policy of releasing refreshed versions of video games and the imminent release of GTA 5 on next-gen consoles.

Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke yesterday at a technology, media and communications conference organised by US bank Morgan Stanley. He was asked, in reference to the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V refresh, if releasing remasters of older titles would play a larger role in the company's business strategy (via VideoGamesChronicle).

Zelnick didn't entirely agree with the questioner, but did acknowledge that the publisher's approach to refreshing games is different than that of its competitors, as their goal has never been to create just a simple port.

“I’m not sure there’ll be a bigger part of the strategy, Remastering has always been a part of the strategy. We’ve done differently than the competition – we don’t just port titles over, we actually take the time to do the very best job we can making the title different for the new release, for the new technology that we’re launching it on. So, we improve the technology, we upgrade the visuals, and we make performance enhancements. And that’s why I think our remastered titles typically do so well."

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Take-Two's CEO believes that refreshed versions of games have long been one of the elements of his company's publishing plans.

Zelnick believes in the success of the upcoming GTA V remaster. To support his words, he referred to the refreshed Mafia trilogy released last year, the main part of which was Mafia: Definitive Edition - positively reviewed by both players and critics. It was also a financial success for the publisher. The head of Take-Two is sure that Rockstar's work will extend the good streak, because it also will not be a simple port to new consoles.

There was also a question about remasters of other parts of Grand Theft Auto and the rumored sixth installment. The head of the company, however, refused to comment and said that all information about future projects and release dates is provided solely by Rockstar Games.

A refreshed version of GTA V is to appear in the second half of 2021 on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. This is the third generation of consoles that Rockstar's game will be available on, as it was released in 2013 for PS3 and Xbox 360, and the game has sold over 140 million copies since (as of December 2020).