GTA 6 launch price hinted at by Take-Two CEO: $3 billion game, but not a $100 price tag

The two biggest questions with Grand Theft Auto 6 are the price and whether Rockstar is going to delay the release again for further polishing, and the price aspect was recently discussed in an interview with TheGameBusiness, as Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick answered a question from Christopher Dring that suggests GTA 6 won't be slapped with the dreaded $100 price tag.

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The Take-Two Interactive CEO was asked about his thoughts on in-game advertising in PC and console releases, as fans have suspected that Rockstar may take this route with Grand Theft Auto 6 to earn more money from the title. Zelnick responded by saying that he believes it's unfair for a gamer who spends "$70 or $80 bucks" on a game to have "interstitial advertising," which, in this case, would be ads appearing on assets within the GTA 6 world.

Additionally, Zelnick added, "For free-to-play titles, yes. For titles for which you've paid 70 or 80 bucks? No. We have some limited advertising inside games like NBA 2K because it fits with the vernacular. You want to see advertising in a stadium, because you would if you were there in real life. But that's not a big economic contributor."

Taking a step back to look at the number of games Take-Two has published and the prices attached to them, then zooming out further to examine the general pricing of games, while sprinkling in Zelnick's comments, a pretty healthy picture can be painted for the future of GTA 6 pricing. For example, Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and WWE 2K26 all launched at the standard $69.99 price point.

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Microsoft attempted to jump to $80 with The Outer Worlds 2, then backpedalled to $69.99. Nintendo has been the only company to make the leap from the $69.99 price tag, which only just happened with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its accompanying games.

What does that mean for Grand Theft Auto 6? Zelnick's comments suggest he is thinking of AAA titles releasing at $70-$80, and GTA 6 is undoubtedly an AAA title, meaning the $100 figure many gamers are dreading is far from where AAA games "should" be priced. Rockstar is expected to spend $3 billion by the end of Grand Theft Auto 6's development, which, if true, would make it the most expensive game in the history of game development.

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Moving proportionality with that expenditure, or more likely even, far exceeding it in terms of monetary value, is fan anticipation. GTA 6 is going to be the biggest game release of all time, and analysts have predicted it will make as much as $1 billion just in pre-orders alone, not even counting over its likely 10+ lifecycle.

This general climate of anticipation might mean Rockstar is the only studio that could make the leap and still have a successful title, but the current factors at play suggest that won't be the route Take-Two chooses. If anything, $80 looks to be the leg up that Take-Two will settle on, as hinted at by Zelnick. The real question is, "Is GTA 6 worth $10 more than a standard $69.99 AAA game?"

Personally, I believe most gamers looking forward to the release would say "Yes."