He told CNBC’s Squawk Box: “I think it's moving towards PC and business is moving towards open rather than closed” before insisting that “the notion of a very rich game that you engage in for many hours that you play on a big screen and that's never going away.”
Zelnick said console and mobile gaming are roughly even for now, although mobile is sprinting ahead while consoles shuffle along.
PlayStation and Nintendo cling to traditional boxes with great success, while Microsoft’s Xbox team keeps hinting that its future kit will be more PC flavoured.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella told TBPN: “It's kind of funny that people think about the console and PC as two different things. We built the console because we wanted to build a better PC that could perform well for gaming. I want to revisit some of that conventional wisdom.”
Valve grabbed headlines after unveiling its Steam Machine, which straddles the console and PC worlds by running games in the living room or as a regular PC.
Microsoft Gaming chief executive Phil Spencer congratulated Valve on X by saying, “Expanding access across PC, console, and handheld devices reflects a future built on choice, core values that have guided Xbox's vision from the start.”
Take-Two’s biggest series, such as Grand Theft Auto and Borderlands, still thrive on console and PC, although the firm has sunk serious money into mobile since the pandemic sent the sector skyward.
The company bought Zynga in 2022 for $12.7 billion, making it the most significant gaming acquisition at the time. That hefty punt paid off, as mobile led the second-quarter revenue charts despite new releases such as Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and Mafia: The Old Country.
Games from Zynga, Rollic and Nordeus brought in 46 per cent of Take-Two’s net revenue, while console titles delivered 41 per cent and PC or other platforms delivered 13 per cent.
Zelnick said: “Mobile, of course, is taken with you, it's repeatable, and it's enjoyable” before adding that its broad appeal means it will likely grow more quickly.
He told analysts that mobile should climb by about 10 per cent during the next quarter. Mobile gaming dipped after the COVID-19 surge, although the market has shown signs of picking up pace again this year.
Newzoo research claimed global mobile game revenue should reach $188.8 billion this year, which is a 3.4 per cent rise. Console and PC gaming are tipped to bring in $45.9 billion, which equals 45 per cent of the whole market.
