Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two recently discussed the upcoming game’s price, and while it won’t give us that all important figure, it stressed that its “job is to charge way, way, way less of the value delivery”.
You of course don’t need me to tell you that GTA 6 is one of – if not the most – anticipated games of the year, with even its trailers breaking records online. But, one thing that has caused some discourse across the industry is how much developer Rockstar will charge for its next car boosting romp. Early last year, a report suggested that GTA 6 could retail for $100.
During a recent chat at video game conference Iicon, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick took time to address the retail price of GTA 6. “Consumers pay for the value that you bring to them, and our job is to charge way, way, way less of the value delivery,” he said. “How you feel about something you buy is the intersection of the thing itself and what you pay for. Consumers need to feel like the thing itself is amazing and the price they were charged was fair for what they got” (thanks, IGN).
Zelnick added that, taking into account inflation rates across the wider world economy, game pricing has actually become cheaper, and most major releases have sold for between $60 and $70 for the last decade or so. “If you look at it through that lens, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. But that isn’t the lens through which we look. Instead, we look at… how do we deliver something amazing, and how do we make sure that what people pay for it feels very reasonable,” Zelnick said.
As for how Take-Two will measure the success of GTA 6 – a question Zelnick admitted he is “terrified” of, though didn’t elaborate why – the CEO said the company’s focus will be on players’ experiences, rather than how it performs financially (that said, one analyst has predicted GTA 6 will make $7.6bn in just two months, which in my books sounds pretty good).
“What we think about is making the most spectacular piece of entertainment on Earth, in history – and it’s a pretty daunting challenge,” Zelnick said. “If we do that, and if we’re of service to our customers, then the upside will take care of itself.” The Take-Two head joked he reckons “a lot of people will be calling in sick” on GTA 6’s release, though, so he’s clearly pretty certain it will do the numbers. GTA 6 is due to arrive across Xbox Series X/S and PS5 on 19th November.
GTA 6 developer Rockstar has made additional headlines recently following the firing of staff members in a move seen by many as ‘union busting’. Last year, over 200 employees from Rockstar North signed a letter to management, in which they condemned its actions. Rockstar’s controversial dismissal of its employees has since been brought up in UK Parliament, with Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine urging ministers to “support workers who have lost their jobs, and stop this from happening again”.
