Recently, gamers recalled one of the interviews with the head of Take-Two. Strauss Zelnick explained that he is not a gamer:
I don’t play video games. I think being the 'chief consumer' in the entertainment business as a CEO is probably a mistake.
Zelnick deals with management issues and does not interfere with the creative process at Rockstar:
My role is to attract, retain, and motivate the best talent in the industry and to [not get in their way].
Many gamers did not appreciate Strauss Zelnick's approach:
That's the biggest pile of complete ******, I've read in a long time. GTA VI is the largest media project in history. So the fact that he doesn't test it himself is beyond stupid [...] If GTA VI fails, he'll have to live on Mars. It's a historical risk that could be very easily mitigated [by playing it himself]. And you can only call it stubborn stupidity.
This guy is just dumb if he thinks he can decide who can make a game without understanding it himself.
Like a chef who refuses to taste his own soup because he 'knows' the recipe is perfect. If you don't use your own product, you lose the emotional context of the user.
However, some discussants noted that Strauss has been in office for many years, i.e. his 'detached' approach still works.