With the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 just around the corner, the gaming industry is buzzing with excitement and speculation about pricing, tariffs, and game key cards. Amidst this, one third-party publisher stands out with a positive outlook: Take-Two Interactive.
During a recent Q&A session with investors following their full-year earnings report, Take-Two Interactive's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, expressed "great optimism" for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2. He highlighted the improved support from Nintendo for third-party publishers, a significant shift from past experiences:
"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 is set to release four key titles on the Nintendo Switch 2: Civilization 7 on the launch day of June 5, the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series (specific titles and release dates yet to be confirmed), and Borderlands 4 on September 12. While these choices align with Take-Two's existing portfolio on the original Nintendo Switch, Zelnick's comments suggest potential future releases, possibly including titles from their extensive back catalog. Although GTA 6 is unlikely to be ported, fans might hold out hope for a future release of GTA V.
In a pre-call discussion with Zelnick, we delved into the company's quarterly performance and got insights into the development timeline of GTA 6, as well as Zelnick's perspective on the game's recent delay to next year.