GTA 6 on track to be the most expensive video game ever

The next Grand Theft Auto game is shaping up to be absolutely huge, in every sense of the word. In fact, the cost to develop and market it could be completely unprecedented.

Back when GTA V released, it was estimated that the total cost to make it from start to finish came in somewhere around the $265 million mark, which was already an enormous amount of money. However, if the rumours are to be believed, this could just be just a fraction of what GTA VI’s development is demanding.

Before we get into it, take a look at what GTA VI might look like with this GTA V Vice City mod.

As Gamerficial reports, GTA YouTuber INTER recently speculated that GTA VI could end up costing around $1 billion when you include its marketing costs. They believe that the budget for the game’s development budget could be at least $250 million on its own.

Previously, however, a leak suggested that the budget could actually be closer to $2 billion (this would include everything previously mentioned, as well as the game’s distribution). If either of these figures are correct, it’ll be quite easily the most expensive video game ever made.

As of right now, it’s thought that the world's most expensive game is Star Citizen. Yup, that crowdfunded one that’s still not properly out yet, and by all accounts doesn’t seem to be releasing any time soon. Star Citizen has managed to accumulate around half a billion dollars since 2012 (it began pre-production in 2010). Considering that it’s debatable whether it’ll ever leave its alpha state and release fully, it’d be nice if the crown for the priciest game could go to one that, y’know, is actually finished (not that GTA VI is, yet).

Right now, much of the ‘information’ regarding GTA VI’s budget comes from pure speculation, so take it with a pinch of salt for now. Let’s just hope that the final release meets gamers’ lofty expectations.