It shouldn’t be surprising that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6 costs a ton to make, and yet, public records from the UK indicating over $2 billion spent on salaries alone is simply astonishing. Neither the developer nor Take-Two Interactive have confirmed whether this is officially accurate, but the parent company’s CEO, Strauss Zelnick, did admit that “it was expensive” to Business Insider.
If we’re talking about a ballpark figure, industry analysts told the publication that the budget is in the “$1 billion to $1.5 billion range.” Which contradicts what was reported in the UK, but then again, it probably doesn’t factor in how much will be spent on marketing as it kicks off this Summer.
Despite Zelnick claiming that Take-Two’s job is to “charge way, way, way less of the value delivery” when it comes to price, the open-world title is expected to cost more than the average triple-A title, per said analysts. Whether it hits $80 or beyond ultimately remains to be seen. Either way, entities like Bank of America certainly wouldn’t mind.
Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19th for Xbox Series X/S and PS5, and one thing is for sure: It’s the biggest release of the year, both in terms of hype and expected sales figures, so much so that it kind of scares Zelnick. As for the PC version, here’s why it’s coming after the console versions instead of on the same day.
