GTA 6 Could Cost $80–$90, and a Former PlayStation Boss Says "It's an Impossible Equation"

Alright, let’s talk about the potential $80–$90 elephant in the room: GTA 6 might be the first mainstream game to smash through that already-controversial $70 ceiling. And honestly? No one seems surprised anymore.

According to a quietly updated message on the Xbox website, “Some of our new, first-party games will launch at $79.99 beginning this holiday season.” Now, GTA 6 is a Take-Two property, not Microsoft’s, but this shift in pricing looks less like a one-off and more like a warning shot from the industry. And considering the sheer graphical absurdity of GTA 6, let’s be real — if any game’s gonna justify that price tag, it’s probably this one.

Shout-out to PC Gamer and Harvey Randall for reporting on this with honesty and nuance. By the way, in the previous article about GTA 6, we described the analysis of Trailer 2 to understand what to expect from Vice City in 2026.

Enter Shuhei Yoshida, former PlayStation boss and 38-year Sony veteran, who basically said the quiet part out loud in a new interview with PlayStationInside:

“It was going to happen sooner or later. Maybe not from Nintendo, but it was going to happen eventually.”

The culprit? Inflation — the real-world kind, not the in-game type that turns your Uber ride in Vice City into a $2,000 bounty.

“We live in contrasting times, where inflation is real and significant, but people expect games that are ever more ambitious and therefore expensive to develop to cost the same. It’s an impossible equation.”

That’s the crux of it. Big-budget games cost more than ever to make, but gamers still expect them to sit at the $60–$70 mark. Rockstar is pouring millions into GTA 6, a game that looks like it was rendered inside a Pentagon server room, but charging more for that level of fidelity? Risky business. Yet almost unavoidable.

Yoshida also pointed to how studios are “keen to diversify their revenues” just to keep making these monster-sized games. That includes the usual suspects: remakes, remasters, live service stuff, and subscription platforms. In other words, your favorite classic getting "reimagined" probably has less to do with art and more to do with spreadsheets.

“The proliferation of remasters and remakes doesn’t really stem from any kind of nostalgia or a desire to bring games up to date, but is a kind of ‘easy’ solution to bring in profits that ultimately help finance new games.”

That’s brutally honest — and a bit refreshing, to be fair. The industry isn’t swimming in cash the way it was during the PS2 or 360 days. Most AAA publishers are treading water, and every new mega-hit has to somehow outperform the last while avoiding layoffs, flops, or fan revolts.

Yoshida does offer a glimmer of hope, though — smaller teams with tighter scopes that still aim for greatness. He name-dropped Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a solid example:

“The game is just as phenomenal visually, despite the fact that the team only has around thirty people.”

Okay, that team was a bit bigger than 30 when you count outsourcing and support, but point taken. Visual excellence doesn’t have to mean billion-dollar budgets. Just smart art direction, tighter focus, and a little bit of dev magic.

Still, don’t expect Rockstar to follow that model anytime soon. GTA 6 is a beast. It’s not just about cars and crime anymore — it’s about high-def cats, reflective beer bottles, and meticulously animated cigarette ash. That costs real money.

And while Yoshida isn't saying GTA 6 will be $90, he's not ruling it out either:

“A balance must be found between production costs and game prices.”

Here’s where it gets real philosophical:

What even is balance when one company is making gorgeous $40 indies with stylized art and another is building entire digital cities with working elevators and sweating NPCs? Is an extra $10 or $20 on a GTA even unreasonable anymore? For more information about GTA 6, read our list of main characters, as known from the official Rockstar update.

That brings us to the meme-turned-manifesto of the modern gaming age: “I want shorter games with worse graphics made by people who are paid more to work less, and I’m not kidding.” Turns out, Yoshida may kind of agree. Not in those exact words, but the vibe checks out.

Because sometimes, ambition is overrated. Sometimes, you just want a good game, not a $2B visual masterpiece with real-time weather patterns. Rockstar may deliver both, but expect to pay a premium for it.

And yeah, if you’re still hoping GTA 6 magically launches at $60, maybe start preparing your wallet now. Or don’t — and play Clair Obscur instead.