A new study has revealed how players really feel about the rumored $100 price point for Grand Theft Auto 6. Rumors of a potentially higher price for the most anticipated game of the decade have been circulating for a while, and have only been fueled by recent first-party price hikes for Microsoft and Nintendo games.
But a study conducted by MIDiA (via IGN) has revealed what we already knew: while developers might welcome higher game prices, players will reject them. The study, which includes a survey of 2,000+ individuals, reveals that most players find a $70 price tag ideal, but anything higher risks alienating a significant portion of the player base.
Players Don’t Want To Pay More For GTA 6
What The Study Shows
Rumors of a higher price for GTA 6 appeared early this year, suggested in a report by video game analyst Matthew Ball. Motivated by rising costs for video games in general, the report suggested that GTA 6 could cost anywhere between $80 and $100 for a standard edition at launch.
At the time, such a thing was unheard of, but it wasn’t totally out of the blue. GTA 6 just might be the most expensive game ever made, according to leaks that claim Rockstar has spent around $2 billion on developing it (via GamingBible). It would only make sense for it to cost a little more.
However, the MIDiA study sings a different tune. Surveying thousands of players with the Gabor-Granger pricing analysis, it questioned fan responses to a variety of different potential prices for GTA 6.
Ultimately, it found that $69.99 would generate the most revenue, balancing fan expectations with affordability. By contrast, a $100 price point would actually sell fewer units, earning less revenue overall.
That might be bad news for Rockstar: considering that a not-insignificant portion of the fan base would buy GTA 6 at $100 anyway, they might be leaving money on the table by not launching it at the higher price.
However, if the MIDiA study is totally accurate, that’s not the case: the data says that any revenue gained from those few fans who’ll still buy GTA 6 at a higher price would be less than that lost from those who wait for it to go on sale.
Rockstar and Take-Two have yet to respond publicly to the study. Take-Two’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, did address the rumors in a statement this past August, but made no definitive pronouncement on GTA 6‘s price, although he didn’t take the idea of premium pricing completely off the table.
No Matter What, GTA 6 Shouldn’t Cost $100
Fans Don’t Want It, & Rockstar Shouldn’t, Either
Matthew Ball’s initial report on the potential price hike claimed that some publishers were openly welcoming a more expensive GTA 6, hoping it’d break the seal, so to speak, on a more variable sliding scale of game pricing.
But the fact of the matter is that we’re already living in that dystopia. Mario Kart World costs $80, Microsoft tried to release The Outer Worlds 2 for the same price before fan outrage forced them to walk it back, and Game Pass just raised its subscription fees across the board.
Meanwhile, excellent games by smaller studios — some of which rival triple-As in their scale, scope, and polish — have been released at significantly lower prices this year, and probably sold all the better for it. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ran just $50, while long-awaited sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong can be had for just $20.
GTA 6 is the most anticipated game of the decade. But for it to enter the market now at a price point of $100 would feel like a missed opportunity. If it wants to draw as wide a player base as possible from day one of launch, it’ll need to be priced at a reasonable rate.
We already knew no one wanted to pay more for GTA 6, and the MIDiA study confirms that. It only remains to be seen how Rockstar and Take-Two respond with Grand Theft Auto 6‘s final price.
- Released
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May 26, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
- Engine
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Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
- Multiplayer
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Online Multiplayer