Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA VI) is coming soon. While we don’t have an exact release date, we may have just learned the price of the game, and it looks completely unprecedented compared to the cost of other modern video games.
According to analyst Michael Pachter, the managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, GTA VI could sell for $100 per copy, vastly exceeding the $70 price that has become the norm for video games during the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 generation.
“We think the company has plans to sell the game at a previously unheard of price point, and suspect that management can offer consumers an incentive to pay $100 or more per unit by rewarding them with a large amount of in-game currency to be spent in GTA Online,” he wrote.
Those who only want to play the single-player Grand Theft Auto 6 experience might be stuck spending a more significant sum to get some online currency they won’t use, which is far from ideal for consumers.
There is precedent for integrating an online game experience with a premium game
Michael Pachter
“In Activision’s case, the integration led to a 40% increase in sales of Call of Duty premium; in Take-Two’s case, we think a successful integration of GTA Online and GTA VI can lead to a $100 price point for the premium game,” Pachter continued.
While it’s hard to argue that the company wouldn’t want to make a bunch of extra money on GTA 6, you could also make the case that (based on its predecessor’s performance) the game will generate absurd revenue without hitting people for a forced $30 in-game currency purchase.
Last month, GTA publisher Take-Two said that GTA 6 is still scheduled to release in the fall of 2025, so we’ll learn more about the price at some point before that.
Hopefully, Rockstar and Take-Two still offer a more affordable version of the game without the premium currency for those not interested in GTA Online.