A massive price increase for GTA 6 has been suspected for quite a while, but an analyst has reignited speculation with their latest take.
Michael Pachter, working as a Managing Director at LA-based financial services firm — Wedbush Securities — discussed in a research note revealing the thoughts on the plans of the owner Take-Two, the owner of Grand Theft Auto VI publisher Rockstar Games.
Reported by Video Games Chronicle, he said: “We think the company has plans to sell the game at a previously unheard of price point, and suspect that management can offer consumers an incentive to pay $100 or more per unit by rewarding them with a large amount of in-game currency to be spent in GTA Online”.
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“There is precedent for integrating an online game experience with a premium game, as Activision did so with both Call of Duty Warzone and Call of Duty Mobile content prior to the release of its annual Call of Duty premium installment”, Pachter stated further.
“In Activision’s case, the integration led to a 40% increase in sales of Call of Duty premium; in Take-Two’s case, we think a successful integration of GTA Online and GTA VI can lead to a $100 price point for the premium game”.
Pachter isn’t the first analyst to predict GTA 6 will have a $100 price tag; fellow expert analyst Matthew Bell has also predicted the new Grand Theft Auto game will be expensive at launch — arguing that it could “save” the games industry.
A point of concern for gamers, however, is that other developers and publishers are hoping for GTA 6 so be sold at a minimum price of $80 to $100 as well.
Because video game prices are said to not be increasing fast enough in line with today’s high development costs, other companies are hoping the new Grand Theft Auto launching at such a higher price will set a precedent allowing them to do the same.
The topic has become widespread enough to reach various levels of fans on social media who have been excited for GTA VI, and reaction has been mixed to say the least.
In the above Reddit thread, user Abject-Salamander614 laid out a key difference — stating that other games series with annual releases “don’t deserve to be $100”.
While some would pay a $100 price tag for GTA 6, since it’s been in development since 2014, they would not pay more than $70 for titles from other series.
Others like Legolas5000 responded with the consequences of that precedent as mentioned earlier. They said: “ That's what happens when you open the flood gates.
This is why nobody should be like "I'm fine with GTA 6 costing $100. But only GTA 6’".
"What do you think? That other companies won't immediately replicate that business model that, at the very least, will be successful for Rockstar (and I'm willing to bet that it'll be successful for other companies as well)?" they added.