With less than a month until the highly anticipated launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, the gaming industry is buzzing with excitement and speculation, particularly around pricing, tariffs, and game key cards. Amid this whirlwind, one third-party publisher, Take-Two Interactive, stands out with a notably positive outlook on the upcoming console.
In a recent Q&A session with investors following the company's full-year earnings report, Take-Two Interactive's CEO, Strauss Zelnick, expressed "great optimism" regarding the Nintendo Switch 2. Zelnick highlighted the improved collaboration with Nintendo, noting that this time around, the support for third-party publishers has been significantly better than in the past. He stated:
"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 key titles on the Nintendo Switch 2: Civilization 7 on the launch day, June 5, followed by the NBA 2K and WWE 2K series (specific titles and release dates yet to be announced), and Borderlands 4 on September 12. These titles, already popular on the original Nintendo Switch, are expected to draw significant attention to the new console. While Zelnick's comments suggest an openness to further releases, including potential offerings from Take-Two's back catalog, it seems unlikely that GTA 6 will be among them. However, fans might hope to see GTA V make its way to the platform in the future.
In a pre-investor call discussion, Zelnick also touched on Take-Two Interactive's quarterly performance and provided insights into the development timeline of GTA 6, addressing its recent delay to next year.
