GTA 6 might trigger a price hike in gaming industry

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Michael Douse has suggested that Rockstar Games might hike the price of the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 from the current industry standard.

While the GTA 6’s publisher and its parent company Take-Two Interactive remain tight-lipped about the specification and the cost of the game, several gaming experts believe that the title might cost more than the industry standard.

Taking to X, Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Michael Douse said that all games should cost more than the standard $70 taking into account production costs and inflation.

“Almost all games should cost more at a base level because the cost of making them (inflation, for one) is outpacing pricing trends,” he wrote in the post. “I don’t think we’ll get there with DLC promises so much as quality and communication. Everyone’s just waiting for GTA VI to do it.”

His statement came after Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said that the game’s price tag should be higher than the usual of around £60 to £70 in recent years.

In a March interview, Zelnick called for a hike in the price tag for AAA games based on their “per hour value,” meaning that games should be priced based on how much gameplay players can get out of them.

“In terms of pricing for any entertainment property, basically, the algorithm is the value of the expected entertainment usage,” Zelnick added.

Earlier this year, Take-Two Interactive announced that Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 6 will arrive in the Fall of 2025.

Later, Rockstar Games announced that GTA 6 would be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, however, it fell short of announcing a release date for a PC version.

The first and only trailer for the highly-anticipated game was released last year, showing that GTA 6 will be set in fictional Vice City, reminiscent of Miami, and will feature the first playable female character in the franchise.