Grand Theft Auto, BioShock, and XCOM publisher Take-Two Interactive has not lost faith in Nintendo and is “enthusiastic” about its next platform, which is codenamed NX.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, chief executive Strauss Zelnick said Take-Two believes in Nintendo’s new hardware.

“We’re believers. We never want to count Nintendo out. They do it over and over and over again. So we feel pretty enthusiastic really.”

Continuing, the exec said the muted performance of the Wii U, which followed the sensational Wii, was part of a familiar cycle for Nintendo.

“It’s not a slump, it’s intentional,” he said. “They come to market, they do really well, and then they sort of exit the market for a period of time.

“They’ve been doing it for like 150 years … They’re really thoughtful, they come to market with something they really think is going to work, more often than not it really works, it blows up, and then eventually they let it decline and they move on to the next thing. They don’t mind having time in between.

Nintendo has confirmed the NX’s global release date is in March 2017. It also suggested it is holding back on a reveal in order to protect a unique element of NX.

“In terms of NX, there’s an idea that we’re working on,” said Shigeru Miyamoto. “That’s why we can’t share anything at this point, and I don’t want to comment on the other companies. If it was just a matter of following advancements in technology, things would be coming out a lot quicker.”

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will also be released simultaneously for the Wii U and NX in 2017.