Take-Two Boss Made His Wife Pay With Her Own Card After She Asked for Bonuses in a Company Game

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says his wife pays for in-game purchases in the company’s games, after he arranged a one-time gift of free currency for her.

With the release of Grand Theft Auto VI approaching, Zelnick has been speaking to various publications. In a recent interview published on the Business Insider Live YouTube channel, he shared a story about in-game purchases in the company’s games.

His wife became a fan of Words with Friends and plays with other family members every evening. She also got into Match Factory and asked Zelnick for some in-game currency:

“Anyway, she got into Match Factory, and one night, late in the evening, she says, ‘I want some free in-game currency for Match Factory.’ And the development team for that game is in Turkey, where it’s already several hours later than it is for us [an eight-hour difference from the US]. So I wrote to them, and they gave her some currency…”

His wife was delighted and continued playing Words with Friends. The next evening, as Zelnick was falling asleep, she asked him again: “I’ve run out of all the currency you got me. Can I have some more?” But the gift was a one-time deal.

Zelnick told her to pay for her own in-game purchases: “Just pay with your ******** credit card already. What are you even talking about? No, no more free currency.”

The Take-Two CEO’s wife got hooked on a company game and asked for bonuses, but he made her pay with her own card — Image source: Rockstar Games

Zelnick used the story to illustrate recurring consumer spending, which now accounts for “virtually 100%” of Take-Two’s revenue.

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