Video game prices continue to be a bit of a sore subject, especially in a world where the cost of practically everything seems to only be going up and up. Unfortunately, those rising costs are leading to ballooning game budgets - and an investment analyst believes GTA 6 could provide a potential "moving up" point for the rest of the industry's game prices.
In a new presentation on 'the state of video gaming in 2025', analyst Matthew Ball hypothesises a potential GTA 6 price bump, and what that could mean for other game companies. Ball says "there is hope" amongst the industry that publisher Take-Two "will price GTA 6 at $80 or even $100", thus allowing "the rest of the market to move up" and raise prices too.
Of course, Ball goes on to add that "no player hopes for such a hike" in game prices, but presents a case for why it may need to happen some day. The presentation showcases that "real term" game prices have never been lower than they are today (accounting for inflation), whilst also mentioning that "budgets are at all-time highs" for making video games.
It goes without saying that we don't want to see game prices go up anytime in the near future; buying full-priced games at launch these days already feels hugely expensive as it is. There is a delicate balance to be held though, especially if fans continue to clamour for big and expensive-to-make games like GTA 6 is turning out to be. For now, all we can do is wait and see - and hold out hope that Take-Two won't move its prices any higher than $70 for the time being.
We're sure you'll have strong thoughts on this topic, so please throw them down below in the comments.
[source matthewball.co, via gamespot.com]
Comments 47
I would pay £100 for GTA VI.
Yes, it’s expensive but it’s also one of the most anticipated games of all time. Its publisher can afford to charge more than a standard game. For anyone who’s been waiting more than a decade, paying that bit extra won’t dissuade them from buying.
I've seen this view pushed forward a lot. And the reality is almost anything they charge people will pay. BUT I don't think they need to. They sell tens of millions of units make massive profits from that business model on day 1 alone. But more importantly they make even more money off MTX. It's important they get people in the door to make that happen.
I hope they stick with the current model, it has bought them record breaking success, why change it?
@VenomUK £100 would probably be a bit far for me but at £80 I could justify it due to the sheer number of high quality hours I've had out of the franchise in the past.
That's GTA and Rockstar though. Their tent pole releases are as consistent as they come. If it became standard across the industry then it's a different story.
Makes Gamepass a no brainer at that point.
Not going to happen. Base game will be $70 max and even then if they did release at a higher price, other publishers would be silly to do the same. I don't buy new games unless it's GTA 6 or recently Indiana Jones. Everything else I get on sale/deep discounts because they are so frequent nowadays and many of us have backlogs.
Hopefully it's the same $70 with the $100 plus special editions. If they do raise the price I will absolutely not pay it. I'm already at a point where my backlog can sustain me for years. I rarely pay more than $40, usually closer to $20. I realize that it will already be at least a couple years after release that I play this, if I play this game at all.
Gamepass+buying on sales has been the norm for me for years now so nothing changes for me. I'm happy to wait and play my backlog in the meantime.
I don't even like GTA, would suck if all games end up doing that.
With the exception of rockstar who on the whole release games in a fairly solid state, the industry must be having a laugh pushing that high in the world of we’ll patch it later “AAA” game development. Frankly ridiculous
I'll just get the remastered complete edition in 3 generations time. When we're still waiting for GTA 7.
Heck I’d pay $100 for a RDR2 edition that had 60 fps and some next gen upgrades. GTA6 will be a 10 year plus supported games. Rockstar CEO hinted towards GTA and RDR being far and few release but huge on arrival. But i ain’t paying $100 for most games, heck most of them don’t even work on launch. Fix that and we can talk.
Rockstar you were the chosen one!!! It was said you would destroy the greedy AAA industry, not join them!!! Bring balance to the gamers, not leave them in darkness!!!
Nobody asked for GTA6. If anything we want smaller more bite sized games that are cheaper to develop and thus sell for a lower price. This allows us to play more of them and in turn buy more!
If big games go close to $100 in price then they may as well just cave in to F2P and subscription models as the future.
The main problem is charging X for all games. Different games have different quality levels, so they should price each game based on the content.
If GTA6 is overpriced, it may very well be worth it, but I’ll be honest: I don’t know that I’d buy it out of principle. If prices hike, I will certainly purchase fewer games. After how many games I bought last year that didn’t click with me, I’m already planning on cutting my game spend this year… and if I’m contemplating between GTA6 and the Switch 2, I know I’m taking Nintendo’s likely budget friendly console over Rockstar doing something unsavory.
In the macro, i could see GTA6 raising prices causing the industry to crash as well, as consumers don’t have enough faith in new games to warrant the spend. While I understand games need to be profitable, I do think this approach would be directly ignoring the complaints of many in the space that are calling for shorter, cheaper games as an alternative to $70 games, as the increased price point this generation may already be hurting games in a time where consumer funds are at a low.
I hope these rumors are just rumors, nothing more.
Surely they realise that GTA 6 will be the exception rather than the rule when it comes to what people are willing to pay for a game. Many people will begrudgingly pay $80-100 for this game, because it’s probably going to be a once in a generation title. Few will pay this for any other game.
Add another $20 for the chump tarrifs factor. 😡
"but but Mah eggs, brooooooooooo"
Like many others I'd be "happy" to pay $100 for GTA VI but I can't think of any other game I'd pay that amount of money for.
I think people are crazy to be spending over 80. I usually avoid games that are £60+. My price range will stick with £45-£50 or less. Otherwise will avoid. Can also get games a lot cheaper through cdkeys. GTA not my most anticipated game, so I can wait for a sale.
I've never understood that reasoning. Video games are digital content, not milk. They may even earn more money with a lower price tag because of the higher sales. Or should they cost $300 because that's what a SNES FX2 cartridge would cost today?
That said, there will be a digital deluxe edition costing $100 or more, with more content and early access. We are seeing that already. I can understand, it's a win-win for publishers and players willing to support them specially. I have pre-ordered some digital deluxe editions.
Video games prices should consider the PC piracy. Rockstar delayed the PC version of V likely because of it, and there is no PC version announced for VI. Higher prices might encourage piracy... and lower sales.
GTA 5 had earned more money than any other entertainment product (game, movie book, comic) in history. If they charge $100 + the paid extras they can shove it up themselves. If anything they'd be best to lower the price.
I'll wait for the sale
Enough games already to keep me going to 2027
@Banjo- yeah it always amazes me that they use ‘inflation’ but then don’t take into account that the game used to be loaded up on a cartridge, fancy box, manuals, often artwork or other bits inside.
Now we either get digital or cheap plastic case on a cheap disc. So inflation argument doesn’t stand up.
Lord, these idiots don't know how to run a business at all. The prices jumping to $70 have already shown a negative impact on sales, so their thought is, "What if we raise prices more!" Embarrassing.
>less people buying new AAA games than ever >'another price increase would help the industry'
This analyst is pretty bad at their job.
No doubt people would blame Sony instead, just like last time.
I already pay $100+ after taxes for base edition of AAA games in Canada. I just can’t imagine how much it would be if games end up being $100US. It’s insane.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner And there are crucial differences: they are entertainment, art or luxury, the format is cheaper than ever (optical discs/SD-like cards), with most sales not having physical form at all, and the content itself is digital and, while it costs a lot of money to develop, it also makes selling intangible clones (copies) possible. It's not food or a house.
You can’t raise prices 40% while the quality of games remain at record lows.
Same old bull plop arguments why price rises are good.
Here is the simple reason prices must go up.... ready.... because companies want to make more money.
And right now there are no more people to sell their products to to the only way is to push the price higher.
I DEEPLY miss the times when more publishers made open-world, story driven games like this. I dunno why not every big publisher has at least one of those games in his portfolio anymore. It is such a good genre of gaming.
Beats me.
PS: Oh man, what I would do for a Sleeping Dogs 2.
They will rise the price now as we keep saying it and managing the price increase expectation for them.
Good ole expectation management.
I would pay 100 for a high quality game without microtransactions, but that will never happen
$100? It's ok. It doesn't mean I have to buy it.
$100 fine i will buy it later when its on sale
you dont have to buy day 1 and if you do you generally play a worse version of the game
No sorry 80 to 100 quid is disgusting if that's going to be the norm!!
GTA would be worth it in fairness if they keep to form but most other games nah not a chance I'll be bargain basement bill on nearly every game if that happens!!
I’m prepared to pay £100+ on GTA 6 especially if it comes in ultimate edition form. I paid £90 for RDR2 Ultimate Edition day one so I’m definitely not going to think twice about paying more for GTA 6. I may even subscribe to GTA+ if the benefits are worth it for GTA 6.
Games were $50 and $60 back in the 90's when the game industry was so niche that selling 500k copies was a success and selling a million was ****ing amazing. Fast-forward to today when game companies whine that they can't make a profit when the market is literally hundreds of millions of people and they don't even need to print a physical product.
Also GTAO made like, a billion dollars last year.
I would pay £80-100 for GTA 6 or Persona 6 due to the sheer amount of quality content Vs cost. I wouldn't for any other games though.
We are heading towards higher game prices, but companies are going to do things to 'hide' it to prevent backlash from customers. The path right now seems to be to charge an extra $30 for "early access" of a handful of days. That period will start stretching out soon to a week, then longer and longer, until it's just accepted that you have to pay that extra $30 to get the game.
Well then...these companies just won't get my money anymore. Too bad! Sad that people will pay it though.
£80 - £100 for a game? Nah, I will stick to my huge backlog, or retro games, lots to play.
Think I’ll be waiting for deep sales and probably sticking to gamepass if games are going to be £100
Pretty sure I read that GTAVI is projected to make over $1 billion in pre-orders alone, and that’s before anyone mentioned these possible price rises. If these price hikes turn out to be true they can take a run and jump. I’ve no interest in GTA Online, so can wait for a massive sale before I play the single-player, and that’s if I even bother at that point.
$80-$100? Really?
New games here in Australia cost $90-$125 currently. As a result, I buy much less these days. Any higher and they can shove it up their ass. And the console too.
I think Rockstar is going to double dip. Likely GTA 6 will launch at $100 -$130 for the base game and likely $200 - $300 for the ultimate edition. But that is just the start. Likely after launch they will introduce paid seasons could be $20 - $50 per season. Just my predictions.
Getting an actual owner's key for digital content like on PC would help justify ownership pricing. Otherwise this is just a more expensive rental. They could get rid of ownership altogether and be like Gamepass for monthly fees but Rockstar will never do that. They'll raise prices. They're a company, not the industry and consumer habits are hard to change. Most mobile players and maybe even console players are on F2P games as it is. Hardcore gamers that like physical and ownership are in the minority. We are niche. Hope some company exploits us. Evercade for example has done an excellent job taking that demographic.
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