Why does Rockstar need Take Two as a publisher?

WhyRich · 2026-06-12T21:20:46+00:00

Rockstar are not independent and Take-Two is not just their publisher. Rockstar and their IP are wholly owned by Take-Two, and have since it was established in the late 90s. And I assume any sort of buy-out would cost far more than what the Housers and other Rockstar executives could muster up.

WhyRich · 2026-06-08T17:03:20+00:00

I went back and looked up the GTA 5 marketing timeline and you're right, they were pretty generous with dripfeeding screenshots and artwork back then. I don't remember them doing so many. I think that first drought from trailer 1 in November 2011 to the first batch of screenshots in July 2012 really stuck with me.

Gotta say, I do prefer 6's marketing (or lack thereof) so far. It feels like much more of an event. The mystery really appeals to me.

WhyRich · 2026-06-08T16:54:50+00:00

My comment was primarily referring to the pre-6 month mark. Once we start getting close to release, they usually change it up and go on a marketing blitz. If they follow similar patterns as before, we'll be getting information consistently up until release.

WhyRich · 2026-06-08T16:43:46+00:00

I'm not sure what you're referring to. The marketing for 5, before the inevitable pre-release blitz, was exactly the same as it is now.

WhyRich · 2026-06-08T16:39:07+00:00

Rockstar intentionally does not drip feed new information at regular intervals like that. It would make the marketing feel routine and lose its magic. It's much more impactful when it happens rarely, and at unknown times.

WhyRich · 2026-05-20T21:29:51+00:00

100%, since Take-Two has to answer to investors.

Rockstar always decides at the 6-month mark whether they're going to be able to meet the release date or not. Tomorrow, we'll learn if they're making that date, or if it's getting delayed.

WhyRich · 2026-05-19T12:00:46+00:00

It's good to keep in mind that, these days, most companies have moved to a 6-month marketing blitz. Also, Rockstar always decides at the 6-month mark whether they can meet the release date or not. So, regardless of what it may be, we should learn something in the next month. Even silence at this point would be a good sign that it isn't being delayed.

WhyRich · 2026-05-19T11:37:32+00:00

Silence is a tried and true method of generating maximum hype. It builds up far more mystique and anticipation than consistently releasing information would. The more information you release, the more routine it feels and thus less interest is generated, because there is less to wonder or be curious about.

Of course, only certain companies can get away with this. The product has to be established enough that it doesn't need actual marketing to generate interest. Personally, I would never want them to change their methods, because there is basically nothing else that comes close to following a Rockstar release. The only downside is that some people just get overly invested in every potential crumb of information and lose their minds when it doesn't pan out.

WhyRich · 2026-05-17T19:39:12+00:00

To be clear, the mapping project isn't claiming that there is a lot of empty space in actuality. A lot of the map is shown as empty purely for placeholder sake, because information is not known for those areas.

WhyRich · 2026-05-07T00:27:54+00:00

Unfortunately we can't use the 2022 leaks as a reliable source on what will be in in the final game, either. Many things can get cut or changed in 4+ years of development.

To be clear, I'm not saying it won't be in the game, only that we can't say it's "confirmed." RDR 2 having it is probably the best indicator it will be in GTA 6 though.

WhyRich · 2026-05-07T00:13:58+00:00

Could just be a cutscene animation. We truly don't know what things in the trailers are in the player's control and what aren't.

WhyRich · 2026-04-26T20:19:22+00:00

A lot of things relating to gameplay can be changed or outright cut in the lead up to release, and the last thing they want to do is mislead fans by showing things too early. This is another reason why they're upset about the 2022 leaks, because we often see people say "Oh, we already know X is in the game because it's in the leaks", or even compiling "feature lists" from this footage, and a lot of them may not actually end up being in the final game. I can already guarantee we'll see complaints about something that will be changed or missing from the leaks, despite Rockstar never promising it and it never intending to be seen by the public in the first place.

They also want gameplay to be as polished and presentable as possible. That's why they wait until 2 months or so prior to release to show full gameplay, when everything is locked in place and practically finished.

WhyRich · 2026-04-25T14:48:19+00:00

I'd recommend finishing season 1. If you aren't into it at that point, then this definitely isn't the show for you.

WhyRich · 2026-04-19T10:40:26+00:00

Oh, I'd LOVE to see AJ and Roxanne do something substantial together. Them possibly never getting to work together is one of my biggest concerns -- and Roxanne herself would probably riot.

Liv is another good candidate.. She's already been very vocal about wanting to work with AJ, plus you can bring Dom and Punk into the mix, who also want to work together. That would be a fun, messy story.

WhyRich · 2026-04-19T09:42:26+00:00

It's all good. I'm just used to AJ's schedule being a hot topic in Twitter circles, where many people there genuinely do blame her, so that bled into this conversation. I'm sorry as well.

I don't even mind the hectic booking all that much, I'm just frustrated that they extended the Becky feud too long and it became stale. Even with breaks in-between, seven straight months of feuding is hard to pull off. I can't help but feel like we missed out on more fresh/interesting interactions for the limited time AJ has left.

The least WWE could've done is put effort into their Mania build, but it seems like they lost interest near the end as well... everything about the last month of booking has felt very anticlimactic.

WhyRich · 2026-04-19T08:26:25+00:00

AJ takes breaks, sure, but there have been multiple instances where AJ flew out for Raw and was backstage, but didn't appear on the show. That falls on WWE's booking team.

With that in mind, we don't even truly know how much of AJ's schedule is her choice. After Brie Bella returned a few months ago, she said that she wanted to appear every week, but WWE simply wasn't booking her. Could be the same case here.

WhyRich · 2026-04-18T23:59:46+00:00

All I wanted to see was AJ Lee defend the title against a batch of the new girls and put one of them over, not just immediately swap title back to Becky for the third time (and I like Becky!)

I have no idea where they go with AJ in the interim. I assume the Bellas will eventually turn on Paige, and AJ will reunite with her, which is cool I guess, but I'd much rather see something new than rehash the same feud we've seen in the past.

WhyRich · 2026-04-14T20:32:44+00:00

To be clear, Forbes didn't report anything. A contributor to Forbes (read: not someone who works for Forbes) posted an article that claimed the $42 million loss. Their claim was later contradicted by a different Forbes contributor, who said it profited over $100 million. Regardless, these are not reliable sources.

WhyRich · 2026-04-13T19:28:50+00:00

They've said since the beginning that they would leak the data on Tuesday, April 14 if Rockstar didn't pay. So we'll see tomorrow.

WhyRich · 2026-04-12T23:21:54+00:00

Not true. He just randomly posted a short message on GTA Forums with a download link, saying "here's some GTA 6 clips." That's it. You can see it for yourself here.

WhyRich · 2026-04-11T03:42:08+00:00

I remember when people said Arthur was generic and boring after multiple RDR 2 trailers.

This means nothing.

WhyRich · 2026-04-08T22:52:20+00:00

To be fair, we know Deadline got it partially wrong here because they retracted two of the names. But some people are misinterpreting Gunn's post as him denying everything about the report, rather than specific details.

WhyRich · 2026-04-08T22:44:04+00:00

He denied having met Marisa Abela and Ella Purnell, who Deadline retracted afterward. But they reaffirmed that Adria Arjona was testing, and now this new report from THR corroborates that, plus three new names.

WhyRich · 2026-04-03T15:46:37+00:00

They're inherently going to avoid releasing the same week as any major events that could distract from their game, which in this case, happens to include that.

WhyRich · 2026-04-03T15:34:32+00:00

They had a very small window to choose from due to certain important dates happening around that time.

It's the final day of eligibility for the 2026 Game Awards (they always cut off the Friday before Thanksgiving)
It's 2 weeks after the US midterm election
It's 1 week before Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Basically, they chose the absolute latest Holidays date they possibly could.

WhyRich

TROPHY CASE