OPINION: ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Could Cost $100 To Play, But It Is Totally Justified — Here Is Why
Nintendo Switch 2’s $450 price tag has raised eyebrows in the gaming industry, but nothing has rattled gamers more than the console’s new game prices, which stand at $70 for the likes of Donkey Kong Bananza and $80 for Mario Kart World. While it wasn’t exclusively revealed in the announcement, further reports allege that when Grand Theft Auto VI is finally released, it will cost as much as $100 on the platform, which some people feel is exaggerated, but is it really?
While the $100 price tag sounds like a new high for games today, when adjusted for inflation, it is still cheaper than what other games charged at launch in the past. Despite hitting an all-time high, the prices for larger-scale games on major consoles have been relatively constant when compared to inflation. The price remained at $50 from 1989 to 2005/2006, when both PS3 and Xbox 360 increased it to $60, a figure that held until 2020, when the current price of $70 was adopted.
On the other hand, the average cost of AAA games in that time has increased more than tenfold. “When it costs $5 million to make a game, you can charge $59.99, when it costs $125 million to make a game, you charge $59.99…the math doesn’t work. You end up having your cost and revenue streams at a break-even point. It’s not a healthy model. But the gaming community said they don’t want to pay more than $60 for a game,” said former PlayStation boss, Shawn Layden, pointing out the glaring discrepancy.
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Nintendo has always been an outlier, though, as it became the first major console to increase the price of games to $60 in 1990 with the launch of the Super Nintendo. However, they were forced to drop that position when none of the other major players followed suit. The company then dropped prices to $50 with the Wii in 2006 before joining everyone else back at $60 in 2012 on the Wii U.
The new $10 price bump with Nintendo Switch 2 might, therefore, be another experiment by the company. However, it feels different this time, considering the astronomical inflation and the shape of the industry. Video game developers have been struggling since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many, like Ubisoft, continuing with mass layoffs into 2025. It is, therefore, likely that other major consoles will also increase their prices, especially with new games, and GTA VI feels like the right place to start.
Layden correctly predicted back in 2020, after his departure from Sony, that the industry would struggle under the increased cost of AAA games. In his interview, he confirmed that the average cost of games on eighth-generation consoles was $100 million, a figure he suggested would more than double in the next generation. Sure enough, most AAA games whose prices have been revealed since then are way above $200 million, with many approaching $1 billion.
The main cause of this hike in costs is the demand for expansive, realistic-looking game worlds with higher graphics, better interactivity, and more game time. These demands force publishers to deploy bigger teams, more expensive technology, and spend more time developing games, which costs a lot of money. In Layden’s opinion, the best solution is for developers to revert to AA games that people actually play and complete instead of spending a lot of money on bigger games that players rarely complete.
However, the industry continues to bend to player demands, with all new AAA games featuring bigger game worlds than their predecessors. GTA VI is set to continue this trend as its map is expected to be more than twice the size of GTA V. Leaked details of the game suggest that it will feature multiple cities, possibly including international locations. The game’s expansive world and improved props are set to revolutionize gaming. For example, the game allows players to fly to a whole other country to escape from authorities.
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With better graphics, more missions, and improved pacing, GTA VI will undoubtedly be one of the best AAA games ever developed. However, Rockstar Games is not shielded from the ever-increasing costs of AAA games. According to reports, GTA VI will cost more than $2B, which is astronomical because GTA V cost around $250 to $350M. Therefore, it only makes sense for the publisher to charge more for such a game.
The most obvious way for the developer to make this money back would be by flooding the game with microtransactions. The model has proven profitable for some games, such as Genshin Impact, which recouped its entire development cost within a month of being launched. However, gamers don’t appreciate microtransactions in games. Therefore, paying $100 up front for the whole experience feels a lot more acceptable.
However, to justify the new price tag, GTA VI would also have to prove itself to be a lot better than its predecessor. Although GTA V cost Rockstar a lot less to develop, it became a cultural phenomenon, selling over 200 million copies and earning over $5 billion.
Rockstar doesn’t really have to worry about making a profit on GTA VI since the market has been waiting for it for over a decade now. The unprecedented demand for GTA VI means it will still enjoy massive sales, whether the consoles charge $60 or $100. However, the company has to absolutely reshape the industry to justify a price hike, and a double-sized game map with more playable characters and super-boosted graphics at 60 fps feels like a great start.
According to Rockstar Games, GTA VI is still on track to be released in the autumn of 2025 despite their failure to release the desperately awaited second trailer. Now, the fact is, not every game is worth $100 yet, but if GTA VI is as good as the rumors suggest, then a $100 price tag is not a rip-off. Moreover, consoles are likely to provide the alternative of a limited version at a lower price to accommodate gamers who can’t pay the higher amount upfront.
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