Featured Image Credit: Rockstar Games
Topics: GTA, GTA 5, GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games, Capcom, PlayStation, Xbox
Topics: GTA, GTA 5, GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games, Capcom, PlayStation, Xbox
GTA VI gamers are just learning how much it costs to make GTA V, and to no surprise whatsoever, it wasn't cheap.
When GTA V was first released in 2013 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, before Rockstar Games ported it to other platforms over multiple generations, it instantly became one of the most popular and successful video games of all time.
According to Statista, over its lifetime, up to May 2025, GTA V had sold an estimated 215 million copies worldwide, and that number will only increase, even with GTA VI on the horizon.
How Much Did GTA 5 Cost To Make?
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Mentioned in a Reddit post roughly eight years ago, Portugal_the_fan learned that the Grand Theft Auto entry released in 2013 cost an estimated $265 billion to make, and that return was made within three days, making $1 billion in sales.
What’s more, in an article from Radio Times earlier this year, since its original launch, GTA V has made an estimated $8.6 billion, with that number no doubt gradually increasing towards the $10 billion milestone.
What’s quite baffling to think about, the reported $265 million budget that it cost to create GTA V (not including advertisements); it's still probably more of a budget than most modern AAA games.
How much will it cost to make GTA 6?
At this time, as far as I’m aware, those numbers haven't been made public, but they’ll probably be released into the wild when or soon after GTA VI launches next year.
There are rumours that GTA VI costs around $1 billion to make, but take that with a huge grain of salt. If true, however, that would make it the most expensive video game ever made, by quite some margin.
“Vice City, USA,” reads the synopsis of GTA VI. “Jason and Lucia have always known the deck is stacked against them.
“But when an easy score goes wrong, they find themselves on the darkest side of the sunniest place in America, in the middle of a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state of Leonida — forced to rely on each other more than ever if they want to make it out alive.”
Grand Theft Auto VI is currently scheduled to be released on 26 May 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. That’s assuming it suffers no further delay. At the time of writing, its PC port hasn't been announced.