GTA 6 price won’t hit $100 thanks to Online, predicts former Rockstar director

Obbe Vermeij, the former Technical Director at Rockstar North for GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, and GTA 4, believes that the price of GTA 6 won’t hit $100 for you to buy. Instead, Vermeij believes that Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive will make the new Grand Theft Auto a “regular-priced game” because they will receive “money on the back-end” through Online.

Speaking to GameHub, Vermeij says, “Rockstar haven’t said anything about $100. This is just something that the internet has decided”. Rumors about GTA 6 potentially costing $100 stem from predictions by analysts based on the game’s reported budget of over $1 billion. There are also reports claiming that other publishers internally want GTA 6 to sell for $100 to cement a new standard price for AAA games.

Vermeij continues, “I think that [Rockstar] probably won’t do that because they will have a GTA 6 Online component and they’ll be thinking we want the biggest user base we can possibly have”. The former Rockstar Technical Director explains, “Rather than trying to cash in that extra $30, I think they’re just going to make it a regular-priced game and then make the money on the back-end in the years to come” through Online.

Vermeij points out that “GTA Online has made ridiculous money,” and argues that “you can’t blame” Rockstar or Take-Two Interactive for “going where the money is,” even though he would personally “love to see a [new] GTA every five years”.

There are no reports sharing how much money GTA Online has made in total since joining GTA 5 in October 2013. However, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2023 that “Grand Theft Auto Online generated nearly $500 million” in 2022 through microtransactions (via RockstarINTEL).

GTA 6 price will be “fair,” says Take-Two Interactive CEO

The price for GTA 6 hasn’t been revealed, but Take-Two Interactive CEO, Strauss Zelnick, says the price will be “fair” and that GTA 6 “will deliver more value” than you pay.

Speaking to The Game Business in August, Zelnick admits that consumers are “going to be more selective” because of the economic uncertainty in the United States. However, Zelnick believes “selectivity will be good for Take-Two, because we focus on only the biggest and best hits, and people flock to quality”.

Zelnick adds that Take-Two has “had a variable pricing approach for some time,” and claims that the publisher wants to “focus on [delivering] an experience where the thing itself is great, and what you paid for it is more than fair”.

The Standard price for AAA games is $70, although there are Nintendo exclusives that cost $80. Xbox also tried selling The Outer Worlds 2 for $80 but resorted to $70 following backlash. On the topic of $80 games, Zelnick says, “There have been some $80 games, and I am certain there will be some in the future”.

We won’t find out the price of GTA 6 until pre-orders begin. GTA 6 is scheduled to release on November 19, 2026, after its latest delay, and Zelnick says Rockstar is determined to smash the game’s “extraordinary expectations”.

There is speculation within the gaming industry that GTA 6 Online could evolve into an MMORPG, while other rumors claim it will be the next big UGC following in the footsteps of Fortnite and Roblox.