24 January 2025 |

Gaming

After a decade-long wait and with development costs reportedly stretching into the billions, it has long been rumoured that Rockstar might try to crank up the price of Grand Theft Auto VI when it launches. The standard price for games has already increased from £50 to £60 in recent years, and it has been speculated that GTA VI’s RRP could skyrocket all the way up to $100 (approximately £80).

That would already be a punch in the gut for gamers reeling from the rising cost of living and a faltering job market, but it’s one they might be able to stomach for GTA VI in particular. Rockstar has a track record for producing high-quality titles, with GTA V (2013) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) both receiving widespread acclaim. Many players are still exploring their sprawling worlds to this day.

However, this week it was reported by an industry analyst that there is “hope” within the sector that GTA VI could help to reset gamers’ expectations and normalise a new, higher price point to help cover inflation and the bloated development costs that plague many modern AAA video games.

“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 $70, $70 to $80, etc.”

That’s all well and good, and the industry does need to tackle spiralling costs (my recommendation is to spend less in the first place), but there’s a glaring problem in their logic: Very few video games are as high-quality as Rockstar’s.

Starfield was disappointing compared to previous Bethesda RPGs. The Sims has lost its soul. Concord flopped to such a degree that Sony pulled the game from the shelves and shuttered the studio. Star Wars Outlaws had its price slashed after a launch soured by bugs. And EA’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a new entry in a hugely popular series, garnered only 1.5 million players in two months.

In short, it’s been no secret over the past few years that gamers haven’t been enjoying what AAA developers have been throwing out, either due to quality issues or simply because they missed the mark entirely in content and tone.

The video games industry isn’t in a great place, and trust between fans and studios is arguably at an all-time low. We see companies increasing prices all the time these days, but in order for such a move to work they need to have a loyal (read: exploitable) customer base that won’t jump ship over the change.

I don’t think gaming can sustain that in its current state. If gamers are already suspicious of the quality of new releases, £80 launch prices will just increase the chance they’ll wait a few months until a sale cuts that figure in half.

Game developers and publishers: We know you have issues, but read the room. Your customers would much rather see you focus on lower-cost, more focused games with a high degree of polish than another open-world collectathon – especially if that generic title would cost us more. You are not Rockstar.