Will GTA 6 Really Cost $100? Evidence & Insider Speculation Explained

Rumor has it Rockstar Games could cost Grand Theft Auto 6 as much as $100 at release, which could set a worrying standard for the future of gaming.

So far, there has not been anything concrete to indicate GTA 6 will sport a triple-digit price tag, but some industry experts suggested it could happen. 

What's Been Said About GTA 6's Price Tag

Speaking during a 2024 Take-Two Interactive earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick did not confirm anything directly about the price of Grand Theft Auto 6, but he did discuss the publisher's philosophy on setting prices.

Zelnick explained the company is always looking to "deliver great value" and maintains a focus on offering "more value than what [they] charge:"

"Look, there's more content constantly being made available, and we really aim to deliver great value at any given time. We're so focused on delivering more value than what we charge. And that's sort of the rubric."

He continued, discussing the goal to ensure the price is "good news for the consumer" and the game "vastly over delivers" on the cost:

"And any time we establish a price, we want to make sure that it's good news for the consumer; that the experience vastly over delivers in the context of the cost. That's the goal."

This comment should help calm fears of GTA 6 releasing at $100, as such a price tag certainly would not fit the bill of being "good news" for the player base. However, veteran investment analyst Matthew Ball recently suggested in his 219-page report, "State of Vide Gaming in 2025," that a price hike may be in order.

In the report, Ball stated "there is hope" that GTA 6 could price at "$80 or even $100." He posited this may be a positive thing as it would allow other developers to follow suit and break this "key price barrier."

He continued to explain that, while players may not be hoping for such a hike, "packaged prices have never been lower in real times than they are today" despite game development budgets being at an "all-time high."

Baldur's Gate 3 developer Michael Douse advocated for higher prices, saying that a game should be priced "accordingly with its quality, breadth, and depth" (which GTA 6's map is rumored to have plenty of).

As shared on X (formerly Twitter), Douse continued to explain that most games should "cost more at a base level" as development costs are "outpacing pricing trends." He added that "everyone's just waiting for GTA 6 to [raise prices]" to kickstart a price hike that could be felt across the gaming industry.

Fears of a $100 price tag for GTA 6 come as fans worry the game could be delayed beyond its current 2025 release window. That said, fans can rest easy for now as a Rockstar developer recently reaffirmed GTA 6's current release window.

Why GTA 6 Definitely Won't Cost $100

Grand Theft Auto 6 is bound to be one of the biggest games of all time, both in financial sales and the scope of the title itself.

Seeing as the long-awaited GTA sequel has been in all-out development at Rockstar Games since Red Dead Redemption 2 was released in 2018, production costs are bound to be high.

That said, Strauss Zelnick's commitment to ensure the price is "good news" for the consumer while "delivering more value than what [they] charge," it seems unlikely GTA 6's price will stretch as high as $100.

Back when GTA 5 hit shelves in 2013, the open-world epic retailed at $60 for the standard edition, in line with prices at the time. Currently, most AAA games retail for around $70, and GTA 6 may well stick with that margin.

After all, GTA 6 is bound to become one of the highest-selling games of all time, and an increased price could risk restricting sales. Not to mention, moving past launch, Rockstar is bound to support the latest GTA title for years to come and continue earning in paid DLC and microtransactions.

According to The Wall Street Journal, GTA Online generated $500 million in the 2022/23 financial year, almost ten years on from launch. The revenue was accrued based on Shark Card microtransactions and GTA+ subscriptions; it does not include copies of GTA 5 being sold to access the online mode.

As such, it is clear GTA 6 will not need such a drastic price hike to be successful and could still hover at the $70 price tag, despite likely having high development costs.

Game prices hiked to around $60 around the launch of the Xbox 360 and PS3 in late 2005, and did not jump to $70 until around 2023, several years into the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S's ongoing life cycle.

Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games making any kind of price jump for GTA 6 beyond the $70 mark would be something of a historic move. But if that does happen, gamers should expect a price tag closer to $80, not as high as $100.

It should be noted the pricing figures discussed above are based on the standard edition of a AAA game, with special editions often retailing at $100 and beyond.

The retail price for GTA 6 presumably won't be unveiled until pre-orders go live, which should be later this year if the 2025 release window holds. But before then, fans ought to learn more about GTA 6 in the coming months, as the community has predicted the second trailer isn't far away.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently expected to release in 2025.