Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick sidesteps GTA VI pricing speculation, refuses to commit to an $80 price tag for the title

As hype for Grand Theft Auto VI continues to build to monumental heights, the question of the game’s price tag has stirred up discussions in the gaming community. In a recent interview with Variety, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick addressed rumors about the cost of Rockstar Games’ upcoming title.

In the interview with Variety, Zelnick stated that the company aims to “deliver more value than what we charge.” Zelnick however, stopped short of talking about pricing for the title even as rumors increasingly point to a sub-$100 price tag being potentially in play for what is Rockstar's biggest title to date at launch. However, he also acknowledged the trend of AAA game launching at premium prices, paired with deluxe or special editions in response to rising costs and as a way to address a larger market segment.

$80 is becoming the norm for AAA titles in 2025, with Nintendo leading the way, thanks to Mario Kart World commanding a mammoth $80 price tag when it launched alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 earlier this year. This has done nothing to quell speculation that GTA VI could potentially retail for as much as $100 on launch, given the massive scale of the title and a reported budget of as much as $2 billion, significantly surpassing GTA V’s $265 million, and towering well above Call of Duty Black Ops III’s $250 million, Cyberpunk 2077’s $316 million, and Star Citizen’s $500 million budget. 

Furthermore, Take-Two shared in its Q1 2026 earnings call that Grand Theft Auto V has sold over 215 million units, generating over $1 billion in retail sales, and pushing the franchise’s lifetime sales to almost 455 million units globally.

Analyst Josh Chapman, managing partner at Konvoy Ventures, predicts that GTA VI will be the largest gaming release of all time. According to his predictions, Grand Theft Auto VI will generate $7.6 billion in revenue within the first 60 days of launch, recouping development costs in under a month.

While Zelnick remained vague about Grand Theft Auto VI’s final pricing, Chapman believes the game will ship for $80. However, there are concerns about pricing GTA VI too high. Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics suggested that pricing the game at $100 risks alienating players, especially those who continue to play GTA Online, which is still a major revenue stream for Take-Two.

Meanwhile, Zelnick affirms that Take-Two is determined to deliver a “first-class” experience. The pricing uncertainty concerns the gaming community, considering he didn’t rule out the $80 figure or higher pricing. However, he did state that Rockstar Games will announce more details closer to GTA VI’s launch, slated for May 26, 2026.

Expectations for GTA VI are at an all-time high, and it seems Rockstar is under stress to deliver a polished experience amid a “painful but necessary delay” from its original Fall 2025 launch window.