Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says Grand Theft Auto VI still needs to be "marketed aggressively," despite the franchise's global brand recognition. He made the comments in a GamesBeat interview recorded at a fireside chat during the GamesBeat Insider event yesterday.

Zelnick pointed to the Barbie movie as a comparable case: a hugely recognizable property that still ran a robust marketing campaign rather than relying on familiarity alone.

"You always have to go out and create enthusiasm," Zelnick said. "So, awareness is one thing; enthusiasm is another thing. And we have to show people what they're going to get because, in linear entertainment, you sit there; it's presented to you. You don't have to interact with it. You don't have to install it. You don't have to have any expertise. You may like it, you may not like it, but it is a lean-back experience."

How does Take-Two view creator-driven marketing?

Zelnick framed game marketing as similar to TV and film promotion up to a point — everyone chases positive reviews and fan excitement. Games, however, add a lever linear media lack: creators with long-following audiences can elevate a title organically.

That lever has hard limits, he argued. "You're amplifying word of mouth because what you can't do is pay anyone to say something that's terrible is good," Zelnick said. "Even if they're the most craven creator on earth, the minute they did that, they lose their own audience, right? So, no one's going to do that."

Publishers can ask a creator to play a game exclusively for a couple of days and reward that promotion, he acknowledged. But the transaction stops there. "We cannot convince people something that's bad is good," Zelnick said. "What we can do is say to people, 'Look, it's out there. You're being exposed to it. It's important. You ought to try it.'"

What's the context around Rockstar right now?

Zelnick's remarks come as Rockstar Games faces a union-busting tribunal in the UK. The case stems from Rockstar's dismissal of 34 workers last year — 31 union members and three non-members — across the UK and Canada. The studio characterized the firings as gross misconduct related to leaking confidential information; the affected workers allege they were targeted for engaging in trade union activity.

GamesBeat did not raise the tribunal during the Q&A with Zelnick.

The legal proceedings, combined with the highly anticipated launch of GTA VI, have intensified scrutiny of Take-Two's goals and financial future. Zelnick described the company's mission as making the "best entertainment on earth" and said that focus has not changed.

"We have a mission statement and a strategy and a culture. It's all stated. We have to state it here. We say it every time we talk internally, and it starts with trying to make the biggest and best hits," Zelnick said.

For studios and publishers, the takeaway is straightforward: even the industry's most valuable franchise will command a full-throated paid marketing campaign at launch, and paid creator deals will be positioned as word-of-mouth amplification rather than opinion-buying. How that campaign takes shape as GTA VI's launch approaches — and how the UK tribunal rules — are both worth watching.