Take-Two, the parent company of Rockstar and 2K, believes its games are worth more than $60. [Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two, said on today's earnings call, "We provide the highest quality experience in the business, and the price is much less than we think it's worth to the consumer. 'And we typically provide an ongoing element for free. This is already a great value. Of course, monetization is entirely optional.

Zelnick responded to a question about the success of a major free-to-play move by a competitor, namely Call of Duty: Warzone, and whether Take-Two would consider doing something similar, such as offering a free version of GTA Online.

In Zelnick's view, GTA Online and Red Dead Online are already "free" components of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. His point makes sense, although it's a bit different from the definition of "free" that I use: after purchasing a major single-player open-world game, you can continue playing the online component without paying any more money (microtransactions are optional); GTA Online" and "Red Dead Online" both continue to offer free updates.

When he elaborated, Zelnick mentioned the real meaning of the question: would Take-Two consider separating GTA Online from GTA 5 and making it free-to-play as appropriate?

Maybe. Zelnick stated that GTA Online will be a separate game on PS5 and will be free for "about three months."

"As you can see, we are open-minded about our business model," Zelnick said, "and we are not going to rule out the possibility that at some point, as a matter of entry point, certain experiences will be free."

Nevertheless, Zelnick reiterated his preference for "tethered free-to-play," which is just his name for the current GTA and Red Dead models, which include free-to-play style online experiences in paid single-player games.

And why wouldn't he? Both GTA and Red Dead continue to make big money.

"Grand Theft Auto Online has been a success for seven years and, surprisingly, is expected to set a new record this year," Zelnick said.