It’s no surprise that GTA 6 is currently one of the most talked-about upcoming games. Even though there’s no release date for it yet, all eyes are on Rockstar Games. With such a huge game slated to launch in a year or two, one cannot help but wonder what it might cost. Is GTA 6 really going to cost $100?
Price has always been a topic of discussion amongst video game publishers. While video games currently cost around $70 a piece, some are expected to cost even more. In such a climate, one cannot help but wonder: How much would GTA 6 cost?
Will Rockstar Games and Take-Two Price GTA 6 be $100?
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Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of Rockstar Games’ parent company Take Two, has some interesting opinions about game pricing. Years ago, in an interview, he suggested that by charging $60, publishers were giving away games for free. Recently, he suggested that for the amount of entertainment that video games provide, they are priced pretty low.
As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, Strauss Zelnick said in an investor’s call, “We want to make sure the experience is first-class, and the nature of the experience is not just the quality of what we offer, it’s also what you pay for it,” Zelnick continued. “Everyone knows that anecdotally. So that’s how we look at it. There have been precious few price increases in the business. The price increase, for example, the $70 for certain frontline products was the first price increase in many years after many generations. So again, I think we offer a terrific value to consumers.”
Then came the rumors of GTA 6 costing $100 a launch. It really makes one wonder: can a publisher charge $100 for a game? Before we go further, it’s important to point out that recent rumours even suggest as much as $150!
Games like GTA 6 and Call of Duty have a massive fanbase. GTA 5 launched in 2013, and to this day, it has provided numerous players with hundreds of hours of entertainment. Thousands of one-count gamers spend on GTA Online. It costed $60 when it launched. This year, Activision launched Modern Warfare 3 with a universally panned single-player mode that had around three hours of story. However, Activision charged $70 for it.
If GTA 6 is as big as rumors suggest, and includes not only Vice City, which is the Miami counterpart of the GTA universe but also Cuba and such, then this game will be massive. All kinds of missions require AI-based NPCs with varied reactions to players’ actions. And all this would put this game way above your typical $70 title. At least in the eyes of its publisher. However, considering all these factors, there’s a strong chance GTA 6 may cost much more than $70. After all, it is being pitched by many as the most expensive game ever made. Which means they have to make that money back too.
Here’s hoping this is not true, though, given the fact that there’s a limit to how much a person can spend.
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This price increase can even end up stealing this game’s chances of success.
While there will surely be a number of people who may see a higher price tag like $100 as justified, one thing that everyone should consider is that these are just video games. Not everyone is a hardcore fan of any franchise; they are just there to have some fun at a reasonable price. Rockstar can choose to sell online and single-player separately, so they can charge double and leave the story mode alone at a normal $60- or $70.
Read More: GTA San Andreas Had 70,000 Bugs and Almost Double for GTA 4, Ex-rockstar North Games Dev Reveals
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Gamers would still buy GTA 6 at launch if it cost $100, but it would not sell as much. Most would rather wait for it to get old and drop in price. Let’s see what direction Rockstar Games and Take-Two actually go in regarding this upcoming game. Meanwhile, one thing is for sure, if GTA 6 ends up being a success after a price increase, then this price is only going to go up.
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