When I was a kid, video games cost $40. Now they're $70, and analysts are discussing a potential $100 price tag for Grand Theft Auto 6. One Baldur's Gate 3 dev says companies hoping for this are "saying the quiet part out loud."

But how much will GTA 6 cost the gamer? Most triple-A video games cost $70 as standard after a $10 price hike that kicked in with the current generation of consoles in 2020. Could Rockstar and its parent company Take-Two use GTA 6 as an opportunity to go higher five years later?

A new market analysis suggests that breaking the current $70 price barrier on games could help ameliorate some of the challenges, and that Grand Theft Auto VI could be the one to do it. “In 2025, GTA VI’s impact on player hours and revenues will be mixed as it launches console-only and severely cannibalizes hours/spend that would go to other titles,

GTA 6 may set a new $100 base price for games, possibly sparking industry-wide changes in pricing. The game's unprecedented buzz could justify the price hike, aiding in AAA development costs. The ambiguous 2025 release date is making other studios hesitant about releasing their games to avoid competing with GTA 6.

With the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and GTA 6, 2025 is shaping up to be an expensive year for video game fans.

With the advent of the ninth console generation (which we are now five years into – take a second to sit down), the standard price of big-budget games has gone up from $60 to $70 – but with the biggest-budget game in recent memory now looming on the horizon,