The discharge of Grand Theft Auto VI is a singular second, the form of huge cultural phenomenon that makes individuals wish to exit and purchase a console to play it. It’s the preeminent trendy instance of what’s often known as a “system vendor.” There’s virtually actually a big viewers of people that had been ready to purchase a console as a result of all they actually play on it’s GTA, and so they haven’t wanted to improve since GTA V. However there’s one large downside: On the similar time individuals are getting excited to lastly play GTA, the {hardware} it runs on is changing into prohibitively costly.
Followers have been ready for the following Grand Theft Auto for a very long time. GTA V initially launched in 2013, and it was subsequently ported to a number of generations of consoles, landed on PC, and, with a bit of assist from its enduring on-line mode, went on to change into maybe probably the most profitable single leisure product in historical past. That’s lots to reside as much as, and the hype round GTA VI is not like any sport I’ve ever seen. The launch, on November nineteenth for the PS5 and Xbox Sequence X / S, is anticipated to be so large that other game publishers are moving out of the way for worry of getting misplaced within the shuffle.
When developer Rockstar first confirmed that it was engaged on the sport back in 2022, the 2 consoles had been out there at very completely different costs. The PlayStation 5 launched at $499.99 for the bottom mannequin, however after a pair of price hikes, it now sits at $649.99. In order for you the extra highly effective PS5 Professional — which may be a good suggestion for a presumably resource-intensive sport like GTA VI — you’re taking a look at $899.99. Microsoft, in the meantime, has raised the price of its current-gen consoles three times since 2025. A lower-end Xbox Sequence S now prices $499.99, whereas the extra highly effective Sequence X tops out at $799.99. Each are up a whole bunch of {dollars} in comparison with their launch costs.
These are steep will increase, and so they go towards the conventional wisdom that buying a console at launch is a bad idea, as a result of now issues solely get costlier over time. That is notably notable for a sport like GTA VI. This week, Rockstar opened up preorders for the game, suggesting that there’s an virtually nonexistent likelihood that it will likely be delayed once more. So the viewers that should improve their console to play it will likely be experiencing fairly the sticker shock, irrespective of whether or not they resolve to go the Xbox or PlayStation route. It’s the form of improve that’s more likely to trigger many to rethink whether or not they wish to make investments upwards of $600 — and in lots of instances rather more — simply to play a single online game. Many will seemingly wait it out and hope issues get cheaper finally.
Picture: Rockstar Video games
There are different points with GTA VI’s launch. At $79.99, it’s costlier than most video games, and there’s some controversy over the truth that the physical version doesn’t actually include a disc. However these are comparatively small hiccups {that a} sport on the dimensions of GTA VI will seemingly overcome. The rising prices of consoles, however, might have a a lot higher affect on the sport’s success.
Let’s put it this manner: GTA V has offered a staggering 230 million copies so far, unfold throughout the PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, and three generations of Xbox. Even when GTA VI was bought by each single one who at the moment owns a PS5 and Xbox Sequence X / S, it nonetheless wouldn’t promote wherever close to that quantity. The PS5 has an set up base of just over 90 million, whereas it’s estimated that Microsoft has offered round 30 million current-gen Xbox consoles. That’s not an insignificant variety of individuals, however it’s additionally not a quantity that appears more likely to develop a lot sooner or later given these value hikes. PS5 sales are absolutely tanking with the new price tag.
And it’s not like issues are more likely to change any time quickly. In reality, when asserting its most up-to-date hikes, Microsoft noted that “console storage and reminiscence costs have elevated by greater than 2.5x and we anticipate one other doubling by the autumn of 2027.” And whereas it’s virtually a certainty that GTA VI will finally come to PC, even there part value will increase have led to a really costly current for anybody on the lookout for a succesful machine. Simply take a look at Valve’s Steam Machine, which starts at $1,049. In case you don’t already personal the appropriate {hardware}, enjoying the following Grand Theft Auto goes to be a really expensive proposition.
Even when it doesn’t match the preliminary success of its predecessor, which earned a billion dollars in just three days, GTA VI will undoubtedly nonetheless be a large hit. Few issues are literally too large to fail, however GTA VI may be considered one of them. These video games additionally are inclined to have a protracted tail — individuals are nonetheless shopping for GTA V greater than a decade later — so there’s plenty of time to achieve its full viewers. But the dire situation around modern video game consoles remains to be severely limiting how many individuals can play the sport when it launches. The wait hasn’t simply been lengthy. It’s additionally going to be very costly.