Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has shared a story about passing on making a sequel to one of the company’s legacy franchises because the developer pitching the game wasn’t all that jazzed about it. Which franchise was it? Frustratingly, Zelnick didn’t say, but he shared the story as a means to speak to why Take-Two doesn’t make every game it could and is instead more selective.
“We had a greenlight meeting years ago, and it was about a sequel to one of our franchises. There was something in the room, some vibe in the room I wasn’t comfortable with,” Zelnick said at the iicon event this week, as reported by Variety. “So I said to the producer, ‘Listen, let’s pause. How excited are you about working on this title?’ And he said, ‘Well, I know we’re making this sequel and I feel good about making the sequel.’ I said, ‘You’re not answering the question. And how excited are you?’ And he said, ‘Well, candidly, I’m not all that excited about working on it.’ I said, ‘Well, let’s end the meeting right here. We’re just not doing that.'”
He said this amid a wider conversation about making sequels to Take-Two’s legacy franchises, including L.A. Noire. On the subject of another L.A. Noire game, Zelnick said Take-Two is looking at making new installments in all of its franchises, but isn’t committing to anything unless the people behind those pitches are passionate.
Zelnick said what would make Take-Two return to a “legacy” franchise and make a new game would be if the team is “super-juiced about doing it.”
Also during his presentation, Zelnick said Take-Two doesn’t rush to make sequels, even if fans want them, because that could amount to a situation where the company is “burning the furniture to keep the house warm.”
In addition to a sequel to L.A. Noire, fans have been calling for Bully 2. In 2025, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who has since left the company, said “bandwidth issues” led to Bully 2 never coming together. Before this, Rockstar said, “We don’t always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won’t get to them eventually. We have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing.”