The price of the standard version of “Grand Theft Auto VI” has officially reached $80. As a result, the boss of Take-Two not only did not apologize, but stood up and said: This price is already a very good deal. When Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick talked about the pricing of “Grand Theft Auto VI” in the latest earnings call, he said that the company is not trying to raise the price as high as possible, but wants to provide players with a high enough value. He even thinks that $80 for “GTA 6” is a “very good deal,” which is an understatement.
“We can actually sell it more expensively.”
This sentence is the most interesting part of the whole thing. Zelnick admitted that taking into account the high popularity and player expectations of “GTA 6”, Take-Two had every opportunity to choose a higher price, but ultimately set the standard version at $80. He also said that game pricing does not simply depend on “how much people are willing to pay,” but rather considers the value of the experience that players ultimately receive. At the same time, he believes that the actual cost changes of AAA games over the past 20 years do not fully match the increase in selling prices.
“GTA 6” $80 is just the beginning?
The current price of the standard version of “Grand Theft Auto VI” is US$79.99 (approximately NT$2,560 / HKD 625 / MYR 315), and the Ultimate Edition is US$99.99 (approximately NT$ 3,170 / HKD 770 / MYR 390). The latter will add additional vehicles, weapons, clothing and other advanced content. However, Zelnick also specifically emphasized that $80 will not become the new standard for all Take-Two games.
For example, the same company’s “NBA 2K27” is still launched at a price of $70. In other words, Take-Two’s logic is: different games determine the price based on the content and experience they can provide.
Whether players buy it or not is the key!
“GTA 6” currently has extremely high pre-order popularity, and Take-Two also said that the pre-order performance exceeded the company’s expectations. So this $80 dispute is likely to turn into a real issue in the end: if players are really willing to pay $80 for “GTA 6”, then Take-Two’s “great value for money” argument may really hold up. “Grand Theft Auto VI” is currently expected to be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on November 19, 2026. The PC version has not yet been announced.