Take-Two still thinks day-and-date games on Xbox Game Pass is irrational for its business

Microsoft is making a big subscription bet by launching Black Ops 6 day one on Xbox Game Pass...but that gambit doesn't make sense for everyone.

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Take-Two is a believer in game subscriptions...but only where it makes sense. Case in point: GTA+ was introduced by Rockstar Games and has seen tremendous growth since launch. Plus, we've also seen GTA franchise revenues get a material boost after GTA V and GTA Online were included on services like Xbox Game Pass.

But there's a big difference in how publishers like Take-Two see subscriptions versus companies like Microsoft. Take-Two will only include evergreen games on subscription services. Microsoft, however, launches its games day-and-date on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in an attempt to A) change consumers behaviors towards digital-first subscriptions, and B) grow said subscription over time. Take-Two, however, has no vested interest in jeopardizing full game sales in this way--would anyone actually buy, say, GTA 6 if they could subscribe to Game Pass for a month and play it that way instead?

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GTA saw an earnings boost when GTA V was on Game Pass, but the game is 11 years old and not a new 'frontline title.'

It's not something that makes rational sense for a publisher like Take-Two Interactive, who, despite making a significant amount of its revenue from recurrent consumer spending (a fancy word for microtransactions), still relies heavily on consumers actually buying the games upfront.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick had this to say about Black Ops 6, Xbox Game Pass, and his general thoughts on day-and-date releases:

"I think that offering a frontline title with a premium price in a subscription service, day and date, will push consumers to that subscription service for at least a period of time. No, it won't affect our decisions because our decisions are rational."

These words echo those spoken by Zelnick back in November 2022, where he said that day-and-date releases were a "big missed opportunity" for publishers like Take-Two.

"I think the the secondary skepticism was whether or not it made sense to offer frontline titles day and date with titles on a subscription service. I don't think that ever made sense, I still don't think it makes sense," Zelnick said at the time.