Late on August 7, GTA publisher Take Two put out its quarterly earnings report, accompanied by a shareholder Q&A and interviews with CEO Strauss Zelnick appearing on various outlets. Obviously, the big question everyone had is: How much are you going to charge for GTA 6? Zelnick chose to deliver some extra-special corporate gloop instead of actually answering.
Rumors have been flying back and forth over the price of next year’s GTA VI, with a recent round of “industry analyst” nonsense declaring that the game will cost $100. However, while something around $70 to $80 seems far more likely, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick avoided giving a price when speaking to Variety.
Game prices are in something of a hinterland, with many publishers wanting to follow Nintendo’s lead up to a standard price of $80 but seemingly being afraid to push the button. Microsoft recently backtracked on the plan, EA has made clear it intends to stick with $70 for the foreseeable future, and perhaps most relevantly here, Take Two recently said Borderlands 4 would be $70, after Randy Pitchford made a twerp of himself on the subject. Many, however, are predicting that if any game could push prices up, it’s GTA 6.
In an interview with GI.biz, Zelnick put modesty aside and said of GTA 6, “I do think it’s fair to say that this is perhaps the most highly anticipated property pre-release in the history of entertainment.” Given this confidence, you might think the CEO would be willing to just state the intended price for the game. However, when Variety spoke to him, he instead prevaricated.
“Our goal is always to deliver more value than we charge,” Zelnick told the outlet, which are words that look like they should mean something. He continued, “so we’ve had variable pricing at the company forever.” Mentioning special editions and so on, the response finished, “I think, probably more than most, we’re highly focused on making sure that the experience is great, not just because the game itself is great, but also because consumers have paid a fair price for it.” Yes, but how much will it cost?
Zelnick was equally bemusing about Borderlands 4 during August 8’s earnings call, responding to a shareholder question about why that game will be $70, “We believe that any consumer experience is the intersection of the thing itself and what you paid for the thing. So our goal is to vastly exceed expectations. We want to put out the best entertainment on Earth.” Yes, but why is it $70?
When 2020 prices were stepping up from $60 to $70 as a console standard, Zelnick wasn’t nearly so shy about justifying the increased costs. “We think with the value we offer consumers…and the kind of experience you can really only have on these next-generation consoles, that the price is justified,” the CEO told GI.biz at the time. “But it’s easy to say that when you’re delivering extraordinary quality, and that’s what our company prides itself on doing.”
So, we still have no idea what Take Two will be charging for May 26’s Grand Theft Auto VI. Presumably there’s a desire to hold off and see which way the wind blows over the next nine months. Given Nintendo is sticking to its guns at $80 for Mario Kart World, but then confusing everything by charging $70 for Donkey Kong Bananza, there’s no clear indication yet. Certainly Microsoft and Sony appear to be sticking to $70 for the upcoming holiday season, but it seems entirely possible that $80 will creep in during 2026.
And yes, sure, Take Two could charge $100 for GTA 6, but it’d be a bad move that would do reputational damage to both the publisher and the game. Presumably there will be a “premium” version priced at around $100, and possibly another at $130 or more, but it seems vanishingly unlikely the vanilla game will cost more than eighty bucks.
