GTA 6 Hype Keeps Growing as Take-Two Boss Opens Up About AI, Pricing, and the Game’s Massive Scale

A new interview with Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick pulls back the curtain on GTA 6’s rumored price, billion-dollar budget, AI tools, and why the company is finally embracing the modding community.

Something strange is happening around Grand Theft Auto VI right now — and fans are definitely noticing it. Over the past few weeks, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has been popping up everywhere, giving interview after interview while the gaming world waits for new GTA 6 news. And honestly, that alone has people talking.

According to sources, the latest interview wasn’t just about GTA 6. It was more of a deep dive into Zelnick himself, and some of the details surprised many people. The head of the company behind one of the wildest game franchises ever apparently doesn’t drink, smoke, play video games, or even have a speeding ticket.

Zelnick reportedly believes his role isn’t to be the gamer in the room. Instead, he focuses on the business side while developers handle the creative vision. He said he prefers watching people play games rather than picking up the controller himself. It’s a pretty unusual mindset for someone leading one of gaming’s biggest publishers, but it also explains why he talks about the industry more like a long-term strategist than a typical gaming executive.

Of course, fans are mainly focused on one thing: how much GTA 6 is actually going to cost.

According to sources, the expected price is currently between $70 and $80, though at least one analyst believes the game could reach $100. Zelnick still hasn’t confirmed the official number, but he keeps describing future pricing as “very reasonable,” leaving players to read between the lines.

And honestly, it’s easy to see why this conversation has gotten so big. GTA 6 isn’t shaping up to be a normal release. Industry analysts now estimate the game’s budget could land between $1 billion and $1.5 billion, making it potentially the most expensive video game ever made. Some rumors previously pushed those numbers even higher, but this is the clearest estimate tied to the project so far.

Then there’s the AI discussion — and surprisingly, Zelnick’s comments felt more grounded than the usual corporate buzzwords people expect nowadays. Take-Two employees are already using AI tools such as Claude and Google Gemini to handle smaller, repetitive tasks. But Zelnick doesn’t believe AI automatically makes game development cheaper or faster. In fact, he says the opposite tends to happen.

Once developers gain new tools, they simply aim bigger. That means larger worlds, more detail, and even more ambitious ideas, rather than shorter production schedules. It’s actually one of the more honest takes on AI in gaming so far, especially at a time when many companies are promising faster development through automation.

For GTA 6 fans, that could be good news. If Rockstar is using AI to expand the game rather than cut corners, the final product may end up even more massive than people already expect. Another interesting part of the interview focused on modding.

Instead of constantly fighting GTA roleplay and modding communities, Take-Two chose to buy FiveM back in 2023, one of the biggest GTA multiplayer modding platforms around. According to sources, Zelnick saw the community’s passion as something worth joining rather than shutting down.

That shift says a lot about where GTA could be heading.

The interview also touched on crunch culture and long development hours. Zelnick claimed delays help avoid unhealthy work schedules, though recent reports from employees connected to Rockstar studios have painted a more stressful picture behind the scenes.

Still, one thing is clear: GTA 6 is already bigger than a normal game launch. The gaming industry itself has exploded since Grand Theft Auto V released back in 2013, and expectations for this sequel are now sky-high. And with Zelnick suddenly doing media appearances nonstop, fans can’t help but wonder — is Rockstar getting ready to finally drop the next big GTA 6 surprise?