GTA 6 Could Prompt A Shift To More Expensive Games

The price tag for new video games should go up, according to a Baldur’s Gate 3 developer. But Michael Douse, director of publishing for Larian Studios, believes the industry is in a holding pattern until Grand Theft Auto VI raises the starting entry fee from $70 to something higher.

On X, Douse started discussing the price of new video games while sharing a screenshot of what’s available in the expensive Ultimate Edition of Star Wars Outlaws. The Larian Studios executive bemoaned “vague content promises” to validate a high price point, adding that a title should be priced “accordingly with its quality, breadth, [and] depth.” However, Douse then explained that most new games should be charging more at this point.

“Almost all games should cost more at a base level because the cost of making them (inflation, for one) is outpacing pricing trends,” Douse said on X. “But I don’t think we’ll get there with DLC promises so much as quality [and] communication. Everyone’s just waiting for GTA [VI] to do it, lol.”

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has danced around the question about whether GTA VI could cost more than $70. Earlier this year, Zelnick didn’t give a simple yes or no, instead talking about the company’s “aim to deliver great value at any given time.”

GTA VI is set to release in fall 2025, and the Rockstar game–along with Switch 2–should help the video game industry rebound next year, according to a Circana report. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has also expressed his belief GTA VI will help everyone and doesn’t scare off his company from launching games in a similar time frame.

The $70 price point for new games basically kicked off with the launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in late 2020. In fact, Take-Two was one of the first companies to charge $70 with NBA 2K21, with other titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Demon’s Souls costing the same amount for people, too. Earlier this year, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors noted that it might take one company pushing a higher price to see how customers respond.