GTA 6's 2025 release is still on the cards, and while user content won't be the dominant force, its publisher is already "excited" about modding

GTA 6 reveal trailer screenshot showing a young blonde woman standing near a sunny rooftop pool, wearing a white and gold bikini
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Take-Two's CEO has said that he doesn't think the "industry will turn into a user-generated content-driven industry," and that GTA 6 remains on track to launch in fall 2025.

Take-Two head Strauss Zelnick was asked during an earnings call about the publisher's attitude towards modding and user-generated content. "We've been very open-minded, and we certainly are very excited about many things that our users are delivering in their engagement with our titles and other people's titles," Zelnick said (as reported by PC Games Insider).

"Obviously, we're excited about what we see in the modding for the community, for GTA, and we think that that's pretty exciting. At the end of the day, entertainment companies need to bring great entertainment to consumers. That is the starting point," Zelnick added. 

However, the Take-Two CEO doesn't believe that user-generated content is going to dominate the games industry. "I'm not a believer that the industry will turn into a UGC-driven industry. However, for certain titles, for example, Roblox, they are really more platforms than they are in digital entertainment titles.

"And I think this company, we pride ourselves on making the best entertainment of any sort on earth. And if consumers want to add to that and enhance that for their own use, generally speaking, we would like to enable that behaviour, generally speaking, protective of our intellectual property," Zelnick concluded.

Elsewhere in the earnings call, Zelnick confirmed that GTA 6 is still on track to release in 2025, seemingly dispelling a recent report earlier this year that development was "falling behind." Zelnick was also asked as to the stage of development that GTA 6 is currently in, but straight up refused to answer the question. 

Former Rockstar dev says keep those GTA 6 expectations in check as "technology is moving much slower," so we may not see something like the "jump" from San Andreas to GTA 4.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.