It is one of the most debated unanswered questions in all video games: how much will Grand Theft Auto 6 cost? Amid the speculation, new research has suggested that a $100 price point would actually earn Rockstar less money than if went for the “sweet spot” of $70.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is often asked how much GTA 6 will cost, with some predicting fans would be willing to fork out $100 for what is expected to be the biggest entertainment launch of all time. And each time he’s asked, Zelnick dances around the question, pointing to delivering value for customers.
Adding fuel to the scrutiny is the industry’s recent jump from $70 to $80 for some games. If Nintendo is charging $80 for Nintendo Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World, and Microsoft, as many expect, jumps to $80 for its games from next year after backtracking on doing just that this year, then it’s hard to see GTA 6 priced any cheaper.
But we just don’t know what Rockstar plans to do. Analysts, meanwhile, have offered a mixed set of predictions. Earlier this year, a $100 GTA 6 was mooted by Epyllion CEO and analyst Matthew Ball in a lengthy presentation on the state of gaming in 2025. Near the end of the presentation, Ball said that “some gamemakers hope GTA 6 will be priced at $80 to $100, breaking the $70 barrier and helping $50 titles to move up to $60, $60 to do $70, $70 to $80 etc.”
“Packaged game prices have never been lower in real terms than they are today — even though budgets are at all-time highs and player growth is stalled,” Ball wrote. “GTA 6 could re-establish packed video game prices after decades of deflation despite rampant cost growth.”
Other analysts have poured cold water on the $100 suggestion though, saying that such is the huge excitement around GTA 6 that there’s simply no need to limit the game’s potential audience by pricing some out of the experience.
Now, new research has claimed that if Rockstar were to go with $100 for GTA 6, it would actually cost the company money, insisting the revenue “sweet spot” remains $70.
A MIDiA Research study, reviewed by IGN, rejected the $100 price point for GTA 6. MIDiA’s model, which leans on the Gabor-Granger pricing analysis and a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, shows that going for $70 would maximise sales potential and keep fans happy. A $100 launch price, however, would reduce both unit sales and overall revenue.
$69.99 specifically generates the maximum revenue of any of the prices asked in the survey, MIDiA Research’s Head of Data and co-author of the report, Perry Gresham, told IGN, and this ties into existing research suggesting that consumer psychology favours prices ending in .99
“Our research suggests that GTA 6 will generate more revenue at a standard $69.99 price point than the much discussed $100,” Gresham said. “A $100 price point would actually leave money on the table.”
Any revenue increase from people who still buy GTA 6 above the “optimum” price of $70 would be less than the lost revenue from those who do not, the data suggests.
Brandon Sutton, Games Analyst at MIDiA and co-author of the report, added: “Our research shows that 59% of consumers have some interest in purchasing GTA 6, highlighting the immense appeal and commercial potential of the game. This notoriety also makes GTA 6 the perfect test case to understand consumer expectations around video games pricing. Our findings should serve as a caution to game developers looking to raise game prices in the future.”
Key findings include:
- 60% of consumers who expressed interest in GTA 6 said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ buy the game at $69.99
- 35% of consumers who expressed interest in GTA 6 said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ buy the game at $99.99
- 79% of consumers who expressed interest in GTA 6 said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘probably’ buy the game at $49.99, compared with 16% who said the same at $149.99.
- At the highest price point of $149.99, superfans were almost twice as likely to purchase as the average consumer (9% vs. 5%), though not enough to offset the wider drop in sales.
- Launching at the optimal price point would result in around 8.6% of the U.S. adult population purchasing the game, equating to 22.9 million copies sold and approximately $1.6 billion in revenue.
Price is just one of the many unanswered questions swirling around GTA 6. Another is what Rockstar plans to do with GTA Online. Could the company charge more for access to GTA Online? Will it be a standalone free download? Could Rockstar sell a subscription? Will Rockstar and Take-Two really keep GTA Online available at no additional cost, as before?
Hopefully it won’t be long before we get answers. GTA 6 is due out May 26, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
