The conversation around how much Grand Theft Auto 6 will cost has gotten so heated that Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick just had to weigh in. However, he’s not ready to give us a definitive price just yet. With many AAA games now launching with an $80 price tag, a lot of people have been speculating on how much the next GTA will cost.
While Zelnick didn’t give us a hard number, he did state that the official announcement will come from Rockstar in due time, and that Take-Two’s goal is to deliver more value than what they charge. Zelnick mentioned that the company has always used variable pricing and that while they and the industry as a whole launch at a premium price, it’s often reduced over time.
Take Two Wants Everyone to Calm Down Over Prices Right Now
Zelnick told Variety, “So now that announcement will come from Rockstar in due time. Our goal always is to deliver more value than what we charge, so we’ve had variable pricing at the company forever. As you know, the approach of the industry is to launch at a premium price, sometimes with special editions, and over time, typically to reduce the price to enhance the overall size of the market. We do the very same thing. I think, probably more than most, we’re highly focused on making sure that the experience is great, not just because the game itself is great, but also because consumers have paid a fair price for it.”
The pricing debate, of course, isn’t the only thing on Zelnick’s mind, as Take-Two and its subsidiaries are celebrating some much-better-than-expected results for the quarter ending on June 30. This success was mostly driven by the strong performance of titles like NBA 2K25, Grand Theft Auto Online, and a handful of mobile titles. The company is also expecting solid results from the recent launch of Mafia: The Old Country and upcoming releases like Borderlands 4 and NBA 2K26.
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Take-Two’s recent earnings report shows some impressive numbers that beat Wall Street’s predictions. Analysts had forecasted a loss of 72 cents per share on $1.32 billion in revenue, but Take-Two reported a GAAP loss per share of just 7 cents, with $1.42 billion in net bookings and $1.5 billion in GAAP net revenue. This is a huge win for the company, especially considering their own original forecast for the quarter, which had net bookings between $1.25 billion and $1.3 billion and a GAAP loss per share between 78 and 65 cents.
Spurred by this over-performance, Take-Two has now raised its full-year fiscal 2026 net bookings projection to a staggering $6.05 billion-$6.15 billion. For the current quarter, which runs from July 1 to September 30, the company is projecting net bookings between $1.7 billion and $1.75 billion.
Take Two Will Price Games Fairly
The fact that the discussion has shifted from the Grand Theft Auto 6 release date to its price shows just how real this game is getting. We’ve been waiting for this for what feels like forever, and now that we know it’s coming in May 2026, the anticipation is only going to grow. The premium pricing model that Zelnick mentioned is pretty standard in the industry, and it makes sense that a game that has been in development for a decade would have a price tag to match.
Of course, the price debate isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Until Rockstar makes the official announcement, we’re going to see a lot of back and forth from gamers. Some will argue that an $80 price tag is too high, while others will say it’s justified for a game of this scale.
Source: Variety
