While the future release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is still shrouded in quite a bit of mystery, analysts have been having a field day with speculation on how much the game would cost. Epyllions Matthew Ball, for instance, believed that Grand Theft Auto 6 would be the first game to be priced at $100 for its base edition.Several analysts have since taken to social media against this idea, however. Circanas Mat Piscatella, for instance, believes that this kind of price hike just isnt a move that Rockstar needs to make, since it would raise the barrier of entry and be counter-intuitive to the studios goal of having as many people as possible play the game.Theres no need to make the base price of any game $100, posted Piscatella on Bluesky. Special editions, collectors editions, gold/silver editions, etc etc do the same thing, and a high % of day 1 buyers jump on those at their elevated price points. Theres just no need.You want to make the funnel as wide as possible, while also optimizing launch $, he continued. You dont do this [by] making the base price of a game so high that the funnel narrows. It just makes no sense. At all.Piscatellas point about several major game releases already being priced at $100 through collectors editions and early access were also echoed by MIDias Rhys Elliot, who points out that the industry has begun essentially delaying access to players that dont want to spend $100 on a game.Most huge AAA games already charge $100 (sometimes more) in the first 3-7 days before launch, but they call it early access and slap collectors edition in the name, said Elliot to IGN. Publishers have hijacked collectors editions as a way to charge more for early access AKA delayed access for those consumers unwilling to pay the markup.Elliot also called pricing a game at $100 for its basic edition a bridge too far.Theyd find success either way, he said. GTA 6 is going to be a cultural phenomenon and could bear a $100 price point, but player backlash would be significant, and that would be a short-term gain at a long-term cost. Maximizing day-one premium revenues and giving mass consumers sticker shock is not the play here, especially in todays economy. And while many gamers will play through GTA 6s single-player, online is where the engagement and recurring revenue spend happens. Its where the real revenue comes in. Rockstar would not want to limit its total addressable market there.One of the major challenges for GTA 6 is convincing players to jump ship from GTA 5s online component, so creating a needlessly higher switching cost would not be wise here.Other analysts also seem to follow Piscatellas train of thought. NYU Stern professor Joost van Dreunen, for instance, refers to this sort of price hike as a mistake for Rockstar as well as publisher Take-Two.Their success with GTA 5 came partly from their pricing strategy launching at a standard price point late in the console cycle, then selling another copy to those same players when they upgraded to new consoles, said van Dreunen. Theyll likely stick to this proven approach, though theyll definitely offer premium editions with extras at higher price points.Analysts have also brought up the fact that one of the biggest factors to GTA 5s continued success has been the popularity of GTA Online. While the game itself can be sold to a player once, GTA Online has quite a few microtransactions that players can purchase, and has been one of the biggest factors of the games revenue.GTA Online was key to GTA 5s ongoing success, driving premium sales and subscription service licensing; a precedent Take-Two is unlikely to disrupt with GTA 6s launch, said Omdias senior games analyst James McWhirter. Alternative pricing schemes will likely emerge only after establishing a strong player base for the next-gen GTA Online, which will anchor long-term engagement. The real challenge lies in managing continuity between two live-service GTA Online games. Depending on how Take-Two handles this transition, alternative business models could emerge sooner or later.Elliot also explored the idea that Rockstar Games might decouple GTA 6s single-player parts from GTA Online, launching and maybe even selling both components as their own titles.While I think we will see something similar for GTA 6 and its online component, I can also see a world where Rockstar launches them completely separately, said Elliot. If they did this, they would probably add some online perks into the single-player version to nudge players to play online, too. Another possibility is having the core story play out in GTA 6, then adding subsequent story content into the online mode best of both worlds, perhaps.As for subscriptions, Rockstar will likely continue what it set out with GTA+, perhaps adding a battle pass to complement as well.While circumstances around the launch of GTA 6 will continue to be a source of speculation, van Dreunen has predicted that the game will be massively successful, and will even end up surpassing the sales figures of GTA 5 and GTA Online. He put this down to the fact that there are a lot more console gamers out there today, which will automatically lead to a higher number of customers, and predicts around 38 million sales for GTA 6 in its first year.When GTA 5 launched in 2013, about 29% of console gamers (35 million) purchased a copy, said van Dreunen. Assuming a similar adoption rate among an anticipated 130 million console install base in 2025, GTA 6 could sell around 38 million copies in its first twelve months. At an average selling price of $70, this would generate approximately $2.7 billion through both digital and physical channels, aligning with Take-Twos projected earnings increase for 2025.Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently in development, and will be coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Following the trends of the franchise, the game might also eventually make its way to PC.This is getting so much run but its ridiculous. Theres no need to make the base price of any game $100. Special editions, collectors editions, gold/silver editions, etc etc do the same thing, and a high % of day 1 buyers jump on those at their elevated price points. Theres just no need.[image or embed] Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) January 19, 2025 at 10:00 PMYou want to make the funnel as wide as possible, while also optimizing launch $. You dont do this be making the base price of a game so high that the funnel narrows. It just makes no sense. At all. Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) January 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM