take-two says gta 6 still needs marketing because awareness isn't hype

Saw Strauss Zelnick talking about GTA 6 marketing and it's one of those quotes that sounds obvious until you actually think about it. He said awareness is one thing, enthusiasm is another thing. Basically everyone with a pulse knows GTA 6 is coming, but that doesn't mean they're counting down the days. Take-Two still has to do the work to turn that general awareness into actual excitement.

Which is kind of funny for a game this size. You'd think GTA 6 sells itself. But Zelnick's point is that knowing a thing exists and wanting to buy it day one are two completely different states. There's a huge chunk of people who played GTA 5 a decade ago, moved on, and haven't paid attention since. They know a new one is coming because it's impossible to avoid, but they're not refreshing the Rockstar site at 3am like we are.

That's who the marketing is for. Not us. We're already sold. The casual crowd needs a reason to care, and that reason has to be manufactured through trailers, interviews, whatever else they've got planned. You can't just rely on the name anymore, even when the name is Grand Theft Auto.

I guess the question is whether Rockstar's slow drip approach is actually working for that audience. The hardcore fans are eating up every frame of the trailers, but is the average person even aware those dropped? Zelnick seems to think there's still a gap between knowing and caring, and closing it is the whole point of the next few months.

What do you think actually gets the casual crowd excited at this point, another trailer or something totally different?

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Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.