Take-Two Interactive head Strauss Zelnick has addressed the “competition” between Grand Theft Auto 6 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and shared his thoughts on the Nintendo game. The comment arrives just days prior to the launch of GTA 6, while many players are actively exploring what Ocarina of Time‘s remake has to offer.
Grand Theft Auto 6‘s launch has been so anticipated that some developers and publishers decided to move the release of their own games to avoid landing in GTA 6‘s wake. However, Nintendo didn’t seem to be all too worried about it, releasing Ocarina of Time just two weeks prior to GTA 6‘s launch. Now, the head of Rockstar Games’ parent company has commented on Ocarina of Time and the alleged competition between the two games.
Strauss Zelnick Talks Ocarina of Time
In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick briefly discussed the Ocarina of Time remake and how it and GTA 6 are considered to be competitors. Right off the bat, Zelnick shared praise for Ocarina of Time, referring to it as “terrific” and saying that Nintendo should be proud of what it’s accomplished with the remake. He then went on to say that entertainment competes with “everything and nothing” because games and other entertainment aren’t requirements to live. Comparing entertainment to food, he explained that even bad food gets eaten because people get hungry, but that entertainment isn’t a “must-have,” so entertainment products like GTA 6 and other games are constantly competing with one another.
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Although Zelnick’s answer somewhat sidestepped whether he personally considers Ocarina of Time to be a threat to GTA 6‘s bottom line, it’s clear the CEO is proud of what Rockstar Games has achieved. He noted that the job of the company is to “make the best entertainment on earth” and expressed that audiences would show up as long as that was accomplished. Given that GTA 6 has been breaking sales records despite still being in the pre-order phase, it seems unlikely that the timing of Ocarina of Time‘s release has had a significant negative impact on GTA 6.
Ocarina of Time and GTA 6 have both had a ton of time and effort put into their development, and it shows. However, the differences between the two games have probably also given them both enough space to flourish without significant downsides. Ocarina of Time is rated E for Everyone, and is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch 2, for example. GTA 6 is rated M for Mature, and the Nintendo Switch 2 is the only current-gen console that GTA 6 isn’t coming out on.
Ocarina of Time is performing extremely well for Nintendo, with the Switch 2 game selling over 5 million copies in mere days. However, its record-breaking launch is still considerably smaller than what GTA 6 has already achieved without having even been released. GTA 6 is reportedly approaching 10 million pre-ordered copies sold so far, and the overall sales will surge dramatically once the game is officially out. With 13 years separating the release of GTA 5 and GTA 6, though, it’s no surprise that the anticipation for one of the biggest game franchises of all time has surpassed what a Nintendo remake could achieve.
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+