Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI, one of the most anticipated video games of all time, started at midnight Thursday, and gamers will have to put up a sizable sum of cash before leaping into the virtual mayhem set in a fictionalized Florida.
Developer Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive Software are sticking to a global release date of Nov. 19 for the open-world action adventure crime drama, after multiple delays, for the Sony PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S consoles.
The standard edition sells for $109.99 Cdn ($80 US), making it more expensive than a typical flagship game’s price tag of $89.99 — though that bar has gradually risen over the years. Some of Nintendo’s tentpole releases for the Switch 2 console including Mario Kart World currently go for the same price.
A pricier Ultimate Edition, set at $139.99 Cdn ($100 US), includes an assortment of in-game extras, including 1980s-themed costumes and cars.
But it’s also the only way to gain access to a handful of in-game shops where players can buy additional content including outfits, hairstyles and tattoos for the main characters Lucia and Jason. Rockstar hasn’t clarified whether these shops will run on in-game currency, sell items for real-world money or both.
Pre-ordering the game won’t let players fire up the game before Nov. 19, either — a relatively common bonus for players who front up the cash early.
And anyone who orders a physical version of the game or buys one in stores won’t get a physical disc either: Rockstar says they will come with a code to download the game onto their consoles.
Shares of Take-Two rose nearly three per cent in pre-market trading Wednesday.
Joost van Dreunen, games professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, told Reuters the pricing is unlikely to dent sales, calling it “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 said.
‘A single-player experience,’ but few other details known
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. Rockstar has continually added updates to the game and its GTA Online mode, which has reportedly made the company $1 million US of revenue a day as recently as this year.
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.
In a press release, Rockstar described GTA VI as “a single-player experience,” suggesting that there will be no online multiplayer content at launch. But pre-orders will include one month of GTA+, their premium subscription plan for GTA Online, for free.
WATCH | Grand Theft Auto VI trailer:
Gamers have so far seen very little of the actual game. Rockstar has released two trailers, slickly produced videos introducing the setting and characters, since December 2023. No promotional material has so far shown what the game actually looks like while you’re playing it, including maps or menus.
Fan and influencer accounts online have filled that gap over the years, in a manner of speaking, flooding the internet with falsified or AI-generated videos purporting to show leaked footage of the game.
Rockstar is still in an employment tribunal in the U.K., after it fired 34 employees in the U.K. and in Canada, in a move condemned as union-busting. The tribunal recently ruled against Rockstar’s request to remove claims the company blacklisted some of its employees.
