Take-Two Shares Lose Billions of Dollars After 'GTA 6' Gameplay Leak

Take-Two Interactive saw its shares fall over the course of the week following the leak of GTA VI gameplay footage. The company’s stock, which started the week at around $245, is now trading at about $236, representing a drop in market value worth billions of dollars.

Other factors may have contributed to the decline, such as CEO Strauss Zelnick selling US$10 million in shares and Take-Two’s recent earnings report, which showed a loss of more than $30 million in the last quarter. On the other hand, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan bought nearly 150,000 shares of the company, valued at more than US$37 million.

Take-Two shares are down more than 6% year to date, but they have risen 50% over the last five years. In 2013, when GTA V was released, the stock was worth about $18; today, it is above $235. In 2022, when GTA VI suffered a massive leak, Zelnick described the incident as “frustrating”, but said it had no financial impact.

Everything you need to know about GTA VI

Once again developed by Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto VI is the first GTA in thirteen years, following the astronomical success of GTA 5, released in 2013. The franchise is one of the most successful in video game history.

The story of GTA VI takes place in an open world based on Florida, in the United States. Its setting is Vice City, a fictional version of Miami that debuted in the first GTA and later got its own game, 2002’s GTA Vice City.

GTA VI will have two protagonists, Lucia and Jason. A couple with a criminal past, the two are a kind of modern-day Bonnie and Clyde and venture into the criminal underworld of Vice City.

GTA VI launches for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19, 2026. A PC version has not yet been announced.