The old ‘GTA 6 could cost $100’ comet is back around

A pickup is back in Earth’s orbit, spinning around again before fading into insignificance as it leaves the solar system again. The idea is that when GTA 6 arrives, it should or could be $100, as opposed to the new standard of $70.

This idea comes from a 200-slide presentation by entertainment industry analyst Matthew Ball that IS actually a good change in terms of the industry issues it presents, and there are many. But the slideshow ends at GTA 6’s $100 price tag, which kind of loses the plot. Here is the Ball:

“Some game makers are hoping that GTA 6 will cost $80-$100, breaking the $70 barrier and helping $50 titles grow to $60, $60 to $70, $70 to $80.” He goes on to talk about how due to inflation, GTA 6 at $70 will be the “cheapest” entry in the series in relative terms, and that how this whole pricing issue is turning into a back-breaking industry problem.

That doesn’t mean a $10-$30 price increase would help, of course.

Video games cost around $50 in the early 2000s, rising to $60 in the mid-2000s. Then, in 2020, when the industry is booming during the pandemic, the standard for most AAA games rose to $70.

Of course, if there’s a game that can get away with a base price of $100, it might be GTA 6, but it seems unlikely that it’s going to happen, either. MUST this happens in the wider industry for a number of reasons.

• There are often $100+ special editions of games already sold out, many of which now even come with an earlier launch date than standard copies and digital items that should probably already be in the game.
• Microtransactions have exploded over the past decade, bringing in additional revenue for these “free” games that didn’t exist before. GTA 6 is a particularly poor example of a game that needs to raise its price in a way that doesn’t feel like a bad thing, considering that over the past decade its companion mode GTA Online has made nearly $9 billion in revenue. revenue and there’s no reason to think its GTA 6 counterpart won’t do the same.
• Unlike the early days of cheaper games, players are now forced to pay for an additional subscription service placed on top of the console game, be it PSN or Xbox Live (Xbox Game Pass “Core” now). Annual installments that add up to hundreds of dollars more over the course of a console generation. Higher-priced subscriptions like PS+ and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are also quickly becoming almost standard.
• You can talk about inflation all you want, but do you know what else inflation affects? People’s incomes and spending power, not to mention the absurdly static federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which has remained the same ever since. 2009. What do you think this does to the purchasing power of consumers, especially in the lower income brackets who still want to keep up with new games?

Even some developers are publicly not buying this idea. Here’s Larian’s Michael Douse on the idea (Larian is the developer of the 2023 GOTY Baldur’s Gate 3, which launched for $60 on Steam):

“The conventional logic is that ‘gamers aren’t as price sensitive as people think,'” Douse said. “But that goes for 40-60 (they say it doesn’t make a difference). Going to $100 when the quality can’t be trusted will it was suicidal, especially with the decline of marketing avenues.

And with the suggestion that some publishers (like Rockstar) can get away with that price:

“You’re 100% right, but so little that the blanket argument that games should be $100 now because of inflation makes no sense.”

I don’t see GTA 6 being over $70 outside of special add-ons and no doubt GTA Online subscriptions along with its massive slew of microtransactions. Just because of this game can doesn’t mean it should, nor does it have wider applications in industry at the moment.

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