Halley’s Comet, that giant ball of ice and metal has been carving its path through space for centuries, swinging by Earth every 75–80 years. Astronomers point their telescopes. Regular folks crane their necks. Myths get retold. We gamers have our own Halley’s Comet — GTA 6, landing May 26, 2026 — a triple-six combo you’ll actually want to see coming. But while scientists study and stargazers simply watch, we’re here to partake.
Twelve years and eight months in the making. The price? Maybe a hundred. Now, is that price too much to touch the stars?
It’s a fair question, one I didn’t expect to be asked in my own living room. A couple of days ago, my wife asked me how much I’d be willing to spend on video games next year. I thought about all the big AAA releases on the horizon, multiplied $70 a few times, and then it hit me, how much will GTA 6 actually cost?
Why GTA 6 Might Actually Cost $100
There have been rumors swirling online — and no, not about me having an imaginary wife for the sake of this narrative — but about GTA 6 possibly carrying a $100 price tag. According to a GamesRadar+ report citing Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, GTA 6 could launch at a $100 price point, fueled by a development budget already exceeding $1.5 billion and projected lifetime earnings north of $10 billion.
“Analysts are predicting that Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated title, Grand Theft Auto 6, may be the most expensive and profitable video game in history. With a projected retail price of $100, GTA 6 could set a new standard in video game pricing.”
This year alone, Nintendo raised prices for its Nintendo Switch 2 mainline titles to $80, with Mario Kart seemingly taking the lead lap in this new race and Nintendo scooping up every coin. Like a couple of school boys during prom night, other companies have been nudging each other toward the same move. Xbox even flirted with it for its next major launch, The Outer Worlds 2, before quietly rolling back the $80 price tag, saying the change was to align with “current market conditions.” Which is PR-speak for: “Yeah, maybe the game about corporate greed shouldn’t be the one charging extra for the lesson.“
EA — one of the most player-centric and philanthropic game companies out there, has even been asked if it plans to “do a Nintendo” and jump on the $80 bandwagon. In true FIFA Ultimate Team fashion, you’d expect them to charge you just to read the answer, but instead EA CEO Andrew Wilson said: “We’re not looking to make any changes on pricing at this stage.” Which is gamer-speak for: “We’ll get that extra $20 from you, in loot boxes, frfr.”
And why are these talks relevant? Well, it just shows how easy it is for one company to start and another to follow suit. And the reason? Because in this industry, greed works like an Apex Legends lobby — if one team smells weakness, you can bet there’ll be a third-party after-party party. And in gaming, that party always ends with someone looting your Death Box and your wallet.
The Economics of Rockstar’s Boldest Move Yet
Let’s take that crisp $100 bill and see where else it might go.
Food? That’s two decent date nights at a mid-tier restaurant — one if you order the fancy appetizers and your partner has a weakness for shakes that come in glasses taller than your torso.
Movies? At today’s ticket prices, you’re looking at maybe eight trips to the theater if you skip the popcorn. Add snacks and you’re down to four or five.
Clothing? Sure, $100 could buy you a couple of decent shirts, or one very confident pair of sneakers that you’ll swear you can “wear with anything” until you see yourself in a mirror and realize… nah.
Now compare that to video games.
One game — one — can give you hundreds or even thousands of hours of entertainment. Think about Dota 2, where people have logged playtimes that could qualify as full-time jobs. Or a multiplayer shooter like Counter-Strike, where you can hop in any night and it’s a completely different match. The last two were actually free by the way. Roguelikes like Hades or Binding of Isaac reinvent themselves every run. Even big single-player games like The Witcher 3 or Elden Ring can stretch far beyond 100 hours if you explore every corner and story.
No other medium can quite do that. Movies are fixed, you can go back and rewatch Michael Corleone coming out of that diner bathroom in The Godfather, but the beats are always the same. Games let you be Michael… and miss the shot because your aim is absolute garb bro.
How GTA V and Red Dead Made This Price Possible
If we’re talking about dropping $100 on a single game, we have to talk about why Rockstar can even get away with floating that number in the first place — goodwill. And they’ve got it in spades.
First, there’s the still-thriving chaos engine that is GTA V— a record-breaking sales success that refuses to fade. Its online mode is basically the Wild West of modern gaming — you never know if your night will end with a high-speed chase, a smooth heist, or a jet-powered stranger griefing you from the stratosphere.
Then came Red Dead Redemption 2, a slow burn, a masterwork, a journey that was as much about the people you met as the places you rode through. It was a meditation on loyalty, morality, and the slow erosion of freedom. Rockstar’s worlds are postcards from universes you want to live in, even if living there means dodging bounty hunters or respawning after a particularly enthusiastic cliff dive. They’ve mastered escapism, the kind that makes you forget about work deadlines, grocery lists, and the fact that you had to call your sister three days ago.
For hundreds of hours of possible interactions with people — real and unreal— to countless locations waiting to be explored, to an abundance of stories where I’m at the center of it all, I’d happily buy a hundred-dollar ticket to that comet they call GTA 6. But not everyone is ready to saddle up with Rockstar this time.
The $100 Backlash — and Why Rockstar Might Not Care
Not everyone is ready to celebrate a $100 price tag. Change always draws fire, especially when it hits people in the wallet. For players in countries where average monthly wages are a fraction of those in the U.S., $100 is nearly impossible, the equivalent of half a month’s rent for some. Many worry that if Rockstar breaks the ceiling, publishers everywhere will treat that as the new baseline, inching prices even higher.
All across the interwebs, players are split — some have already threatened to pirate the game if the rumors are true, while others joke that charging $100 for Grand Theft Auto is, well, literal grand theft. Over on Socials you can find hot takes, and YouTube is already filling up with “GTA 6 $100 Price?!” reaction thumbnails. There are also those who dismiss the reports entirely as rumor-mill noise, but if you press them, they’ll admit they’d probably still buy it. I understand where all of this is coming from; gaming has always been about access, about anyone being able to pick up a controller and step into another world. And while I can see the value in a hundred-dollar ticket, I also know for some players, that’s not just a higher price — it’s the start of a much steeper climb.
From Reddit discussions speculating on GTA 6’s potential $100 price tag to community polls asking players if they would still buy at that cost, the conversations are heating up. Even YouTube creators are weighing in — in a recent SomeOrdinaryGamers commentary on GTA 6 pricing, Mutahar warned: “If Rockstar makes $100 the new normal, don’t be surprised when every other publisher decides that’s the floor — and still tries to sell you microtransactions on top.” Meanwhile, a trending post on X (formerly Twitter) about GTA 6’s rumored price has sparked a flood of colorful reactions.
Will $100 Become the New Standard for AAA Games?
Market uncertainty often gives companies an excuse to nudge up prices years after release. Just look at how Sony raised PS5 prices across Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand this spring, citing tariffs, inflation, and currency pressure. Nintendo made similar adjustments with its Switch models in certain regions, blaming currency shifts and higher production costs. Those increases were born from economic necessity, not added value.
GTA 6 is the opposite. Its rumored $100 price isn’t about covering losses—it’s about delivering something the medium of video games does better than any other: living worlds that change with you, challenge you, and stay with you long after you put down the controller.
And for many of us, it’s a continuation of a history we’ve grown up with—playing GTA vice city after school on a PS2 in a friend’s living room, roaming San Andreas on a cousin’s PC, loading up GTA V on the PS4 for late-night heists with strangers who became friends. Different systems, different people, same magic. GTA 6 is built on that legacy. When Rockstar moves, the industry pays attention, because history says it will be worth it.
I thought about that comet, how rare it is, and how long I’ve been waiting. I turned to my wife and said, “I need a hundred for GTA 6… and maybe another fifty for the snacks.“
She sighed, rolled her eyes, and muttered something about “marrying a fifteen-year-old with a beard.”
Whether $100 feels like a ticket to the stars or a price too high to pay, GTA 6’s legacy will be shaped not just by its price tag, but by how it includes — or excludes — the players who helped make it legendary.
