GTA 6 Confirmed As Cheapest Franchise Entry To Date In Unexpected Turn Of Events

What kind of bizarre alternate reality are we living in here? While there was good news that those rumours of a £100/$120 base edition of Grand Theft Auto VI didn't come to pass, Rockstar Games' upcoming automotive adventure still sits at the new £70/$80 that many of us have become used to.

Then again, when Mario Kart World is costing £75/$80, and GTA VI is effectively a AAAA release, at least we're getting more bang for our buck. As complaints rumble on about the price of video games and the consoles required to play them, others are balking at paying these prices for a title we've not even had a gameplay trailer for. The latest entry in the long-running Grand Theft Auto franchise apparently isn't as expensive as you'd think, with GTA VI actually being the 'cheapest' outing in 25 years.

GTA VI Is The Cheapest GTA Yet

GTA VI's price of admission might make it seem like the math ain't mathing, with one Reddit post pointing out that the rise of inflation means we're actually getting a supposed bargain this time around. Looking at the 3D era of GTA since 2001's GTA III through to 2013's GTA V, it's technically true that GTA VI is the 'cheapest'.

Back in 2001, the $49.99 GTA III works out at $94.28 in today's money, which sets an alarming high for this experiment. Things aren't much better for 2002's GTA: Vice City at $92.40, but then again, without that game, we wouldn't have GTA VI.

It gets a little cheaper as 2004's GTA: San Andreas comes in at $87.76, whereas we jump back up to $93.58 for 2008's GTA IV. Finally, GTA V's $59.99 would be the equivalent of $85.86, showing how little our money really gets us 13 years later.

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Lamenting the price of everything, one person said: "Yeah I remember PS1 games being £50 in the late 90s, and then for a period of time, PS2 games were as low as £35 on release, and now we're up at £70 for new releases."

Another joked: "Nice try Take-Two. Trying to make us buy an expensive game.

Looking at the situation in an altogether more grim light, someone else concluded: "Everything costs more for the consumer; meanwhile the minimum hourly wage has been the same in the US for 17 years and salaries are trailing inflation.

“The only people getting any scratch of benefit from inflation are the businesses selling products for more while employing people for cheap."

GTA VI's Pre-Orders Continue To Crush The Competition

Rockstar Games

Even before going live on June 25, there were high hopes that GTA VI could make over $1 billion in pre-orders alone. It's in danger of reigniting the console wars, as Microsoft and Sony are locking horns over what's increasingly looking like the biggest game of all time. We know that PlayStation has been pitched as the ultimate way to play GTA VI, but after one post went viral for claiming Sony was outselling Microsoft 8-to-1, the Green Team reached out to Windows Central to tell a different story.

READ MORE: New GTA VI Screenshots Stoke Fire Into Bizarre Red Dead Redemption Crossover Theory

Remembering the Xbox contingent, Microsoft said: "This doesn’t represent pre-order data. We’ve had record orders. People should wait for real data and not clicks on affiliate links."

Elsewhere, French retailer CDdiscount claims that GTA VI has been pre-ordered six times more than your average Call of Duty, while website traffic apparently soared by 500%. This is no real surprise, considering some companies are even shutting down on November 19 because they know workers will be bunking off to play GTA VI.

Don’t miss our guide to pre-ordering GTA VI:

• GTA 6 Pre-Orders: Editions, Price, And Where To Buy On PS5 And Xbox

Other wild claims suggest the game shifted 39 million pre-orders and made $3 billion in its first 24 hours, although it's hard to verify whether this is the case.

Either way, GTA VI appears to be selling like hotcakes and looks set to have dollar signs ringing in the eyes of Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive.