By Aditya Soni
June 24 (Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive Software on Wednesday priced “Grand Theft Auto VI” at $79.99 and stuck to its previously announced November 19 release date, bringing the industry’s most anticipated title closer to launch after multiple delays.
The price makes “GTA VI” one of the most expensive base versions of a top-tier game, pushing it above the $69.99 ceiling that blockbusters such as Sony’s “Ghost of Yōtei” and Nintendo’s “Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” have held for years.
The “Ultimate Edition” of the game will cost $99.99 and add exclusive vehicles, weapons and apparel woven into the story of Jason and Lucia, the protagonists of the game.
Shares of Take-Two rose nearly 3% in premarket trading.
Joost van Dreunen, games professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, said the pricing was unlikely to dent sales, calling “$80 a rounding error against the anticipation.”
He said the price could set a new benchmark for blockbuster titles with few substitutes but was unlikely to apply to mid-tier publishers. “GTA VI doesn’t lift all prices but widens the gap between the haves and the have-nots,” he added.
Fans have been waiting for “GTA VI” for over a decade, and analysts expect it to be an instant hit with billions of dollars in sales within days due to the franchise’s popularity and the strong track record of its creator, Rockstar Games.
The previous entry in the series, “Grand Theft Auto V”, was released in 2013 and has sold around 230 million copies, making it one of the best-selling video games ever.
That makes “GTA VI” crucial not just for Take-Two but for the wider video-game market, as the franchise typically drives console sales and PC upgrades.
Take-Two said earlier this month “GTA VI” pre-orders will start on June 25. All pre-orders before November 20 include the Vintage Vice City Pack of retro in-game items, with digital buyers also getting a free month of GTA+, a membership that unlocks in-game perks and access to “GTA V” and other titles.
First unveiled in late 2023 with a trailer that now has nearly 300 million views on YouTube, the game features a “Bonnie and Clyde”-like duo blitzing their way through a fictional version of Miami, Florida, called “Vice City”.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Maju Samuel)
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