GTA 6 pricing isn’t actually as bad as we thought

It turns out that GTA VI’s pricing might not be as bad as we initially thought.

We’re about 11 months away from being able to get our paws on Grand Theft Auto VI, and there’s still a lot we don’t know yet about Rockstar Games’ next big release.

For example, we don’t know how much it will cost, when we can pre-order, and even if there’ll be multiple editions.

One thing that fans have been particularly concerned about is the price, as there have been rumours that the game could cost up to $100 for just the standard edition. If true, it'd certainly be one of the most expensive video games you could buy.

It’s different from the £40 we were all used to paying a decade ago, and makes it a little more difficult to reconcile with when a new video game now costs more than a day’s wages.

When you adjust for inflation, things can seem a little more broken though. As one Reddit user posted on the Gaming Reddit page, they bought Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3D for $60.88 in 1999.

Adjusted for inflation, that’s $117.47 in 2025. Suddenly, that potential $100 GTA VI price tag doesn’t seem as wild, does it?

Well, it’s not quite as simple as that. Sure, the price of goods has gone up in line with inflation. However, the increase is much steeper than the inflation rate of average salaries.

As reported by The Guardian in 2023, UK wage stagnation has left workers £11,000 worse off as the rate of wage growth decreases.

Just before the 2008 financial crisis, wage growth was set at around 30% per year, but was recorded at just 3% growth in 2022.

In essence, while games have technically gotten cheaper over the years due to price inflation, this won’t actually be the case until wage growth rates are more in line with that.