Take-Two Boss Strauss Zelnick Says He Asked to Be a Playable Character in WWE 2K26 Because 'I Thought It Would Be Funny for Insiders' — but Don't Expect Him to Pop Up in GTA 6
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has spoken for the first time about his surprise addition to the WWE 2K26 roster in June, saying it was his idea and the DLC did quite well actually. But don’t expect the high-powered CEO to appear in GTA 6.
Zelnick was quietly added as a playable character in WWE 2K26 during the game's third season content update, complete with a full entrance with unique commentary alongside 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra, which is quite the licensed song to get for any video game.
The 69-year-old gaming executive weighs in at 165 lbs and holds an in-game rating of 77, which might be fair enough given Zelnick has been called "America's Fittest CEO.” In 2018, aged 61, he was said to be working out 10-12 times a week. He founded his own private workout club known as The Program, and he’s written his own wellness book, Becoming Ageless: The Four Secrets To Looking and Feeling Younger Than Ever.
Here is Strauss Zelnick's full entrance that includes a new entrance animation and "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, and no, you cannot use the song as it's exclusive to him. #WWE2K26 pic.twitter.com/csDpfu0oFH
So, when I got the chance to interview Zelnick following Take-Two’s most recent financial report, amid questions about the decision not to sell GTA 6 on a disc and talk of how streaming might just save gaming , I squeezed in a question about how he became a playable character in the company’s WWE game.
Zelnick confirmed he asked for it to happen, so it was his idea, and he performed motion capture for it. “How it came about? I asked,” he said. “I wish I could say that there was huge popular demand internally and externally, but that would be a lie. I asked and then I went on the soundstage and I did motion capture and we all had fun with it. But no, this was a rare moment where I said, ‘I think this would be fun. Let's do this.’ And everyone's like, ‘Okay.’”
But why would Zelnick want to do this in the first place? “Because I love the title and I loved WWE, and I thought it would be funny for insiders and maybe fun for some consumers,” he explained. “And I think it got exactly the expected response. And by the way, a lot of people played it, as it turns out, it did very well. But the online response was sort of like, ‘Huh?’ Which I think I deserved.”
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Source: Read the full article on IGN →