Zelnick: GTA Online still steady at 70 per cent of GTA V players

More than 70 per cent of Grand Theft Auto V players with online connectivity have played GTA Online, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has revealed.

In a recent interview with Fox Business, Zelnick confirmed the high retention rate for the game six months out from its initial launch on PS3 and Xbox 360.

He gave MCV the same figurein early February, meaning the popularity of the online component hasn’t dwindled at all in the past two months.

The CEO also explained how GTA Online’s microtransaction-driven revenue model has changed Take-Two’s publishing approach.

"Just a few years ago when we put out a product, no matter how big, when we put out a hit we collected our money, we went onto the next," Zelnick said.

"Now what we’re finding is we’re creating recurrent consumer spending and we have the gift that keeps on giving. I talked about that when we took over Take-Two six years ago. It’s nice to see it coming true."

Zelnick said he emphasized the need to cultivate recurrent spending among players when he took over as the company’s CEO in 2007, adding that "it’s nice to see it coming true."

GTA V had shipped 32.5m copies worldwide as of February of this year, keeping the game on pace to become the best-selling console title of all time.