We're rapidly approaching the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. Sure, it's been delayed over and over, and it could be delayed again, but if everything goes according to plan for Rockstar Games and Take-Two, we should get to play the massive game before the end of 2026.
And as the release date approaches, the price rumors grow more prevalent. We've heard speculation that GTA 6 could sell for as much as $150 at launch, which would put it more than double the asking price of an average video game on Xbox Series S|X, PS5 and PC.
Thankfully, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke with Christopher Dring for The Game Business, and he dropped a hint that the game will sell for $70-$80 when it launches on November 19.
What did Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick say?
While Zelnick didn't come right out and say the retail price of Grand Theft Auto 6, he did provide significant details he likely wouldn't have shared if the company had plans to vastly increase the price of its upcoming mega-game.
The conversation was actually about putting advertising into Grand Theft Auto 6 and how fans would react to the company throwing ads into what could be the biggest video game launch of all time. They also talked about AI, which Zelnick confirms couldn't be used to make GTA 6.
"We have some limited advertising inside games like NBA 2K because that, you know, it fits within the vernacular. You want to see advertising in an arena, in a stadium, because you would if you were there in real life," Zelnick said. "Very difficult for me to believe that we would want to have interstitial advertising in a game that someone paid 70 or 80 bucks for would seem unfair."
Again, I can't imagine he would say "70 or 80 bucks" if the company was secretly planning to charge $150, as he's only setting fans up for disappointment.
Sure, the CEO could just be thinking about the standard price for games and could have made a mistake, but that doesn't strike me as the kind of mistake an experienced CEO would make.
Another positive is that the game doesn't seem like it'll have ads. It would have been easy to imagine real-world products advertised on Grand Theft Auto 6's billboards and radio stations, so the fact that Zelnick says he can't see that happening is great.
It's also interesting that he said it would be "very difficult for me to believe," and not "no, we're not doing ads." You'd think the CEO of the company that publishes the games would know for sure, but it just shows how much independence Rockstar has in its development process.
