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Take-Two Boss Predicts Actual Good Video Game Streaming Within 3 Years, Says for Streaming to Matter It Would Have to Run GTA 6 as Well as Consoles
Take-Two chief executive Strauss Zelnick believes commercially viable, low-latency game streaming could arrive within three years, potentially allowing many non-gaming devices to play major releases. He said the technology will only be meaningful for Take-Two if it can run demanding games such as Grand Theft Auto 6 with console-level responsiveness and visual quality.
Zelnick made the comments after Take-Two’s latest financial results, amid concerns that rising chip and hardware costs could make consoles more expensive and delay future systems. He argued that streaming could increase the effective gaming audience by up to tenfold, although he did not expect revenue to rise at the same rate because core players already own gaming hardware. Sony and Microsoft are also expected to expand streaming efforts, while Microsoft recently began testing ad-supported Xbox game streaming.
In short
- Take-Two expects viable low-latency game streaming within three years.
- Streaming must run GTA 6 as well as consoles.
- Cheaper access could expand gaming’s potential audience.
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The case for
Major releases like GTA 6 represent the cutting edge of gaming expectations, and streaming technology that cannot deliver the same visual fidelity and responsiveness as purpose-built consoles will struggle to capture the premium gaming market that generates substantial revenue. If streaming cannot clear this high performance bar, it will remain relegated to casual titles, limiting its ability to transform the industry meaningfully rather than serving as a niche supplementary service for convenience-focused players.
The case against
Whilst Zelnick's console-parity threshold is technically rigorous, streaming could prove commercially valuable without achieving perfect feature parity, since it would unlock gaming access to billions of people with smartphones and smart TVs who have no interest in purchasing expensive hardware. The tenfold audience expansion he himself acknowledged suggests substantial addressable market value even among players unconcerned with demanding AAA titles, making streaming a worthwhile investment for different user segments rather than solely for replicating console performance.
Explained simply
Take-Two Interactive is a video game publisher, and Strauss Zelnick is its chief executive. Its best-known series include Grand Theft Auto, whose next main game, GTA 6, is designed for dedicated consoles and powerful computers.
Game streaming runs a game on remote computers and sends the picture to a player’s device over the internet, much like a video stream. The player’s controls travel back to the remote computer, so delays or an unstable connection can make games harder to play.
Sony and Microsoft make major consoles and are developing ways to stream games, while Microsoft is testing an ad-supported option. If streaming can match consoles in speed and picture quality, people may be able to play major games on more kinds of devices; how many would pay for that is a separate question.