Analyst Suggests GTA 6 Price Should Be $80 to Avoid Undermining Other $70 Titles
There’s been a lot of buzz around Grand Theft Auto VI at IICON, the new executive-focused gaming conference in Las Vegas hosted by the Entertainment Software Association. Much of this chatter is coming from Take-Two’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, and other industry leaders. Interestingly, Bank of America has also weighed in, with a stock analyst suggesting that GTA 6 should and will be priced at $80 to help other AAA titles avoid sales struggles.
Omar Dessouky, a stock analyst at Bank of America, noted that attendees at IICON expressed concerns that the gaming industry, perceived as facing challenges, would struggle to sell games at $80 if GTA 6 launched at $70. He believes it’s in Take-Two’s best interest, as a major publisher and partner to many developers, to set a higher price point for the entire market.
Dessouky’s argument is that GTA 6 will be such a monumental release that if it were priced at $70, other games at that price would seem like a poor deal in comparison. This perspective makes sense if GTA 6 truly lives up to the hype. He also pointed out that, considering inflation, an $80 price tag is becoming more reasonable.
These insights follow Zelnick’s comments during an on-stage interview where he discussed the pricing of the highly anticipated sequel. He reiterated that whatever price Take-Two sets for GTA 6, it must reflect the value customers perceive. While his remarks seemed like basic economic principles, combined with Bank of America’s analysis, it almost sounds like he’s implying they’re crafting a game that outshines all others, justifying a higher price. “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 stated. “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.”
Developing Grand Theft Auto 6 is no small feat. It has been in the works for nearly a decade, with thousands of talented individuals contributing from studios worldwide, and those salaries add up. Zelnick also spoke to Bloomberg about how the high development costs lead to soaring expectations for the game. Some analysts predict it could sell around 25 million copies on day one. Zelnick mentioned that even selling ten million copies on launch day would be seen as a failure, despite that number being astronomical by most standards.
“Development costs have gone up and up,” he explained. “And we really do aim to deliver the highest quality entertainment on Earth. And that is costly. And AI influence is not withstanding. We haven’t seen those costs decline yet. Maybe we will. Maybe we won’t.”
Additionally, as reported by Bloomberg, GTA 6 is taking a significant risk by not launching on PC initially; it will only be available on PlayStation and Xbox at release, although a PC version is expected later, following the trend of past Rockstar titles. “Rockstar always starts on console because I think with regard to a release like that you’re judged by serving the core,” Zelnick said. “If your core consumer isn’t there, if they’re not served first and best, you kind of don’t hit your other consumers.”
Given all this, it wouldn’t be surprising if Take-Two decided to charge an extra $10 or more for what is likely to be one of the most expensive games ever made. Until the official price is announced, speculation will continue to run rampant, with hopes that we’ll get clarity this summer as the marketing campaign ramps up ahead of its November 19 launch.
