While Warhorse Studios co-founder and executive producer of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Martin Klíma, doesn’t quite understand the hype behind Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6, he is certainly excited for the release since it might open the door for more games getting higher price tags.
Grand Theft Auto 6 occupies a strange space in gaming, since it is shaping up to essentially be one of the biggest media releases of all time. As such, Rockstar had the freedom to go for a higher price tag than the industry standard of $70. This could be seen when pre-orders started back in June, with the base edition of the title being priced at $80, and an Ultimate Edition being available for $100.
Speaking about his own interest in Grand Theft Auto 6, Klíma said in an interview with PCGamer that it “doesn’t appeal to me at all”.
“I am not going to be playing GTA 6 unless I’m somehow forced to. And the reason why it is so popular—it beats me. It’s something which I just fail to understand.”
Despite this, however, Klíma has said that he hopes that Grand Theft Auto 6 is successful. “It’s really good that somebody is making these games that are really technologically marvels,” he said, since it might embolden more companies to pursue the higher price points for their games. In the current state of the market, however, Klíma believes that “The last thing you can do is to increase the unit price.”
“That would help a lot, but everybody’s scared to death about it. Now, hopefully, GTA will blaze the trail, and it will allow us to increase the cost.”
On the other hand, he noted that Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games are two of the companies “who can afford, or who can dare, to increase the price of games, which I think is long overdue and also necessary for this business to survive. So, I wish them all the luck.”
Interestingly, Klíma’s thoughts echo the words of DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole, who spoke about how Nintendo and Rockstar Games might be paving the path for more companies to pursue the $80 price point. Others, however, have disagreed. NYU Stern School of Business professor and industry researcher Joost van Dreunen believes that this price tag is “reserved for only a select few titles and franchises”.
“Gaming is increasingly becoming a luxury category,” van Dreunen explained. “Its economics have historically centered around a winner-takes-most model, and GTA 6 raises the bar again. Publishers who can clear it will pull further ahead, and those who cannot will have to compete on distribution instead, finding new channels, bundles, and pricing models to reach players the blockbusters don’t.”
Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on November 19th, and its impending release seems to have already led to console shortages in some regions. According to a report from last month, pre-orders for the game had caused a 33 percent jump in the sales of PS5 consoles in the UK, and a 34 percent jump for Xbox Series X/S.
