It’s only been about two years or so since the video game industry began charging $70 for big games instead of the usual $60, due to game development costs increasing (and greed). This shift, understandably, didn’t go over well with players as the cost to stay up-to-date with modern gaming continues to rise, but that might not stop Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of Rockstar Games) from trying to push it further with Grand Theft Auto VI—one of the few upcoming games that could probably sell for $80.
In 2022, the era of $70 video games began. Since then we’ve seen WB Games, Activision, Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and other companies begin selling their biggest, fanciest games for $10 more than the $60 price tag that had been in place for years. The reaction to these increased prices wasn’t great, but games like Call of Duty and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold well even with the higher price tag. And in Take-Two’s latest earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick seemed to set the groundwork for prices going up.
As reported by Gamespot, when Zelnick was asked about how Take-Two decides what to charge for games like Grand Theft Auto VI and Borderlands, he didn’t provide any specific prices and instead shared the publisher’s pricing philosophy.
“Look, there’s more content constantly being made available, and we really aim to deliver great value at any given time,” said Zelnick. “We’re so focused on delivering more value than what we charge. And that’s sort of the rubric.”
He further added that whenever Take-Two establishes a game’s price, the company wants to make sure that it’s “good news” for players and that “the experience vastly over delivers” compared to the price point. “ That’s the goal,” added Zelnick.
Oh snap! Do you think there’s a good chance this will happen, SW? I think so.. people go nuts for GTA. Isn’t GTA V the best selling at this point? Would you pay more than $70 for GTA 6?
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