During a recent interview with Christopher Dring of The Game Business, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked a question about in-game advertising. Specifically, Chris asked, “Do you see an opportunity for advertising in the PC and Console space?”
“For free-to-play titles, yes,” he says. “For titles for which you’ve paid 70 or 80 bucks? No. We have some limited advertising inside games like NBA 2K because it fits with the vernacular. You want to see advertising in a stadium, because you would if you were there in real life. But that’s not a big economic contributor.”
Later adding, “It’s difficult for me to believe that we would want to have interstitial advertising in a game that someone paid 70 or 80 bucks for. It would seem unfair.”
Combing through their catalog, all recent releases like Borderlands 4, NBA 2K26, and WWE 2K26 all launched at the respective price of $69.99. In the past, it’s been ‘teased’ that the future of video games could reach $80, or even a $100 in the case of GTA VI.
Nintendo has started in on the $80 pricing with some of their first-party games, while companies like Microsoft announced Outer Worlds 2 would reach that price point before backing down due to backlash.
Given Strauss's comments, it seems GTA VI won’t be in the $100 bracket; it's likely to land in the $70 to $80 range. Potentially launching as their first $80 game.
I have no doubt that GTA VI will launch with several editions. We’ll likely see Deluxe, Premium, Collector’s, Legendary, Gansta, Vice City Vice, Heist Master, Wanted Level: Maximum, 6-Star Survivor, and so on and so forth. If there’s ever been an edition, Grand Theft Auto 6 will have it.
We know there will be millions of people willing to shell out more to have more when it comes to GTA. Whether it be single-player bonuses or multiplayer, if the Grand Theft Auto VI base edition launches for less than $100, plenty will still spend far more for the better in-game titles or cosmetics that the game launches with.
I think, given Strauss's comments, we'll see GTA VI launch at a price between $70 and $80, nowhere near the $100 we feared for the past year. As I said, plenty of you will buy the $100 edition anyway, even the $240 dollar version with fake gold chains.
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