Take-Two boss “not worried” about GTA 6 inciting violence
Take-Two InteractiveTake-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said he’s “not worried” about GTA 6 inciting violence because “entertainment doesn’t create behavior.”
The topic of violence in video games is now several decades old, most notably dating back to the early 90s with the release of games such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat.
Such discourse continues to come and go, though landmark decisions like the Supreme Court ruling in 2011 that violent games are protected under the First Amendment have quelled most attempts to relitigate the matter in any real way.
Still, rhetoric claiming games can incite violence resurfaces every so often. And with GTA 6 on track to launch in 2025, these talking points have emerged once again.
Take-Two boss makes his stance clear about violence in GTA 6
During an interview on CNBC‘s paywalled Squawk Box program (via VideoGamer), Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick fielded questions about how the next Grand Theft Auto entry may affect real-world violence.
Zelnick didn’t hold back in his response, telling the host he’s “not worried” about GTA 6 influencing players to commit bad acts in reality.
“To be clear, entertainment doesn’t create behavior, entertainment reflects behavior… The notion [that] entertainment creates behavior has been tested and disproved over and over again,” the executive said.
He continued, adding that violent television shows and movies don’t face the same scrutiny, despite being “very realistic-looking, so I’m not worried about photorealistic video games.”
Take-Two InteractiveIf GTA 6 does come under fire for its in-game violence, it would not be the first time that Rockstar Games and its parent company have weathered this particular storm.
The two companies especially endured an uphill battle throughout the 2000s when the likes of since-disbarred attorney Jack Thompson fought tooth and nail to have Bully banned from hitting store shelves.
Similar controversies muddied the waters around GTA: San Andreas, but nothing has stopped Rockstar from pushing the envelope and really earning that M rating.